MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Chris Murphy

Interview

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HAYES:  It was a rather busy day in the senate this afternoon, an attempt to force a vote on the bill to protect Robert Mueller from being fired was blocked for the second time in as many months.  The bill would have required the attorney general to provide a reason for firing Mueller.  This time Senator Mike Lee of Utah was the Republican who blocked the bill, claiming it was unconstitutional.
 
Also today, Republicans narrowly advance the nomination of lawyer Thomas Farr to a lifetime
appointment on the U.S. district court.  Farr is known for helping to write North Carolina`s voter ID law, which according to a federal appeals court targeted African-Americans, quote, "with almost surgical precision."
 
And in what is a huge rebuke to the administration as the Senate voted to advance a resolution
that would end U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.
 
Joining me now to talk more about all this on this busy day, Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the foreign relations committee, co-sponsor of that bill to end the U.S.`s role in the war on Yemen.  I want to get to that.
 
First, I want to start with Thomas Farr, extremely controversial nominee, squeaked by, it was a procedural vote, the final vote is tomorrow.  50/50, Pence breaks the tie,   What do you think of the chances tomorrow?  What do you think the case against him?
 
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY, (D) CONNECTICUT:  Well, it looks like a lot of this rides, unfortunately, on Republican one senator, Tim Scott of Georgia -- South Carolina, excuse me, who was convinced at the very last minute to vote on the procedural motion who has not committed as to how he`ll vote tomorrow.
 
As you mentioned this is the author of North Carolina`s law to keep African-Americans from
voting, but it`s also -- this is also the guy who sat with Jesse Helms to come up with a plan to send
out postcards to African-American voters telling them that they might be arrested if they showed up to vote in one of Senator Helm`s elections.
 
So, he has a long, long history of essentially leading efforts to try to keep African-Americans  from the polls.  And I would hope that he does not have the votes tomorrow to actually get to final passage, even if he just limped across the procedural finish line today.
 
HAYES:  So you think it`s still an open question?
 
MURPHY:  I think it`s absolutely an open question.  Again, probably sits on the shoulders of Tim Scott.  I wish it wasn`t his burden to bear.  But he`s got a tough decision to make tonight.
 
HAYES:  I should note that two black women were nominated by Barack Obama, President Obama, to fill this district court position, both were blocked by Republicans.  This is who they`re trying to replace them with, just so folks know that.
 
That Yemen vote today was remarkable, 63-37.  Again, procedural. What do you think the  significance of what happened today, what happened there?
 
MURPHY:  Well, you know, this is the fourth vote that we`ve taken over the past three years to try to put an end to the U.S. participation in the civil war in Yemen.  Just let`s go over the data here, 85,000 kids have died from starvation or disease, three quarters of the population can`t live without humanitarian assistance, the world`s worst ever cholera outbreak.  All of this is caused by a bombing campaign the United States supports.
 
Today, 63 senators, 14 Republicans, voted to move forward on the debate to end U.S. participation in that war.  It`s a clear signal to the administration that Republicans and Democrats are furious about the Trump administration`s embrace of Saudi Arabia, at the very moment when their foreign policy is going off the rails. 
 
And my read of the Republican vote today is that they are trying to send a signal to the
president that if he doesn`t effectively change U.S. policy to Saudi Arabia over the weekend, then they are going to move this resolution to a final vote next week, which would then set up the potential that  congress actually does force the administration to pull out of the civil war in Yemen.
 
So I think Republicans are trying to put this back on the administration`s plate this weekend.  We will see if they come up with any reorientation of their policy towards Saudi Arabia that changes this debate next week.
 
HAYES:  There`s a brewing geopolitical crisis between Russia and Ukraine.  This is something you have been very invested in.  You`ve gone to Ukraine with the late John McCain.  You were there together.  You`ve been invested this that country`s territorial integrity as Russia came and took Crimea and has fighters in the Donbass region in the east. 
 
What do you make of this current moment?
 
MURPHY:  Well, so this is obviously a serious provocation.  I think it`s designed, in part, to test whether the Trump administration is willing to do the things necessary to defend Ukraine`s sovereignty.
 
But one of my worries is that we tend to view this war between Ukraine and Russia through a  purely military lens.  And so we pay attention when there`s a flare-up along the fault lines on land or when there is this confrontation at sea.  Every single day Russia is actively engaged in trying to destroy the Ukrainian government, whether it be through intimidation, graft and bribery, whether it be through cyberattacks, whether it be through economic boycotts.  Russia, every single day, is trying to destroy Ukraine so that ultimately the Ukrainian government will decide it`s better off if we just cut a deal
with Russia and get back under their thumb.
 
The Trump administration, and congress, frankly, is not doing what it needs to do in order to
support Ukraine politically, economically.  And so I worry that we`re going to get distracted, we`re going to have a quick response to this flare-up at sea and then we`re going to go back to ignoring what the Russians are doing to try to cripple the Ukrainian government, which may end up in Ukraine deciding to get back into Russia`s orbit.
 
So, we`ve got to be vigilant about this every single day, not just when the military confrontations get to a point where the news starts to pay attention again.
 
HAYES:  Do you think the president should cancel the meeting with Putin in a week`s time?
 
MURPHY:  No.  I mean, I think the president should be meeting with Putin and telling him what the consequences will be if he keeps this up.  So, I don`t know, you will just give Putin a little bit of extra at the G-20 summit.  It doesn`t really actually cause any harm to the Kremlin by telling him we`re not going to talk.
 
HAYES:  All right, Senator Chris Murphy, thank you for taking the time.
 
MURPHY:  Thanks.

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