CNN "The Situation Room" - Transcript: Interview With Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal

Interview

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BLITZER: The man accused of shooting and killing 11 worshipers inside a Pittsburgh synagogue is now charged with 29 counts, including hate crimes, and could face the death penalty.

Joining us, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. He's a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

And I remember you and I spoke in the immediate aftermath of that neo- Nazi rally in Charlottesville last year, and you told us, you told me about your father coming to America in 1935 to escape anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany.

How are you feeling now, seeing this horrific attack on innocent worshipers, elderly worshipers in a synagogue?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT: Wolf, I thought of my dad when I first heard about this horrific, unspeakable massacre in a place that should be among the most safe and secure of any place in our great country.

He came to this country in 1935 at the age of 17, came alone to escape Nazi persecution. And he had not much more than the shirt on his back. He spoke no English. He knew virtually no one. And there was nobody prouder to be an American than my dad.

I think about how sad and ashamed he would be these days. And I once talked to my dad about anti-Semitism and the Holocaust. I said, it can never happen here in America. And my dad said to me, it can happen anywhere if people fail to take a stand.

And what we have seen in the last couple of years is a dramatic rise in anti-Semitic incidents, some 60 percent in 2017 alone, according to the Anti-Defamation League. It has been a rise in hate crimes generally, and it has to be the result to some extent of the hate speech that we have seen.

Vitriol breeds violence. Hate speech breeds hate crimes. As the rabbi in Pittsburgh Jeff Myers said, it starts with speech. Stop the hate speech.

BLITZER: The White House says it is outrageous that anyone else be held responsible for what this shooter did in Pittsburgh. What is your reaction to that?

BLUMENTHAL: The blame for this shooting belongs to the killer. He should be held culpable and he should have the full weight of the law thrown at him.

But the Internet and social media has been turned into a virtual cesspool of hatred, because of the vitriol that we have seen from top leaders in our country. The president's words have encouraged dehumanizing people who are different in race or religion or appearance, and some of the blame has to be laid at the door of the White House.

BLITZER: The gunman was agitated, according to his posts on social media, about the migrant caravan in Mexico right now. It's still 1,000 miles or so from the United States. And he noted that people who used to call undocumented immigrants -- quote -- "illegals" were now calling them invaders. And he was happy about that.

Just today, President Trump tweeted, calling this caravan -- and I'm quoting the president once again -- "an invasion."

Does the president have a responsibility to acknowledge how his words are being interpreted by these fringe elements?

BLUMENTHAL: Not only his words, but his actions and some of the speech at his rallies, for example, praising a congressman who body- slams a reporter, encouraging and delighting in chants of "Lock her up" when referencing his enemies, and, of course, referring to the so- called Middle Easterners among the caravan.

There's no evidence, none whatsoever, that there are any people from the Middle East in that caravan.

[18:30:10] And so the demonizing and dehumanizing of people who are different in race and religion has to have an impact on not only the public discourse, which has to be more civil and decent, but also people delighting and rejoicing in their enemies. We need to delight and rejoice in our friends.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The president is blaming the news media for the current climate here in the United States. He continues to say -- and I'm quoting the president -- that "the true enemy" -- his words, true enemy of the people, the news media. So what impact does that have on our democracy?

BLUMENTHAL: It has a really insidious effect on our democracy. In fact, I'll say it again. The heroes of this dangerous era in our country's history will be our independent judiciary and our free press.

One of the reasons why I fear President Trump regards the news organizations as his enemies is they've been reporting the facts. They've been telling people what the evidence is of his administration careening off the tracks and, unfortunately, failing to serve the public interest.

So there's a corrosive impact on our democracy of undermining the free press, which is a pillar, and it could lead to additional violence because vitriol does breed violence. And again, to quote the rabbi in Pittsburgh who spoke so eloquently, it starts with speech. The words of hatred must stop.

BLITZER: Senator Blumenthal, thanks for joining us.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

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