CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Amy Klobuchar

Interview

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COOPER: Sounds like a plan, except that after going back and forth with the Director over that, Senator Kennedy's next question was whether he believed the F.B.I. is a systemically racist institution. Then he asked about Chinese spies, then about the investigation of the Russia investigation.

As for what happened during the worst attack on the seat of democracy since the war of 1812, how it happened, why it happened, who was truly responsible? Well, it seems that he and his Republican colleagues had little time for that.

Joining us now, one of the Democrats who questioned Director Wray, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Senator Klobuchar, thanks for being with us.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Thank you.

COOPER: Do you think Director Wray's testimony will put to rest any of the lies, conspiracy theories being pushed by the former President, certainly, and his supporters in Congress?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, it certainly should. We'll see what they do at our hearing tomorrow. But he made it very clear that this was a coordinated effort that was led by the Proud Boys extremist group, and it's exactly what we heard last week from the former Police Chief of the Capitol and the acting Metropolitan Police Chief. Everyone has said the same thing: who did this?

So no one is dancing around it. We know what happened here. Are we trying to figure out what went wrong, so it never happens again? Oh, yes, very strongly. The Intelligence screw ups, the fact that there's a structure with the Capitol Police Board that required the Chief or he felt he had to call the Sergeant-at-Arms while they were in the middle of an insurrection to get permission. Why the DoD, Defense Department waited so long that one afternoon, every minute counted to get the National Guard.

Those are all really good questions, so we can fix this in the future. But this idea that we don't know who did this. We know. They were all over social media. There have been hundreds of thousands of tips, as Director Wray testified today, hundreds of thousands with hundreds of arrests and more to come.

So we know exactly who did this. We just need to make sure that they never do it again.

COOPER: It is fascinating, though, and disturbing the extent to which that Senators Ron Johnson, Josh Hawley and others are just trying to rewrite history. And it seems like that is -- I mean, the Republican Party doesn't have a platform anymore because they decided not to have that last year. But it seems like their platform on this is certainly clear.

KLOBUCHAR: It is. And the issue here is that misinformation matters. As we know from the last election, people believe this stuff. I mean, I just had someone in Minnesota ask me if the vaccine involved a microchip, that that would be put in their arm.

These things are happening, and it is misinformation. And just as we're doing with the vaccine, I would say pretty effectively, we need to shut it down every time it happens, which is why it was so important to ask Christopher Wray about the truth, and that is that this was not a festive atmosphere, which Senator Johnson said last week at our hearing.

This was not just people out for a picnic that got a little carried away. No, these were people as we've now learned, with two-way radios, decked out in military gear, with handcuffs, with weapons that were ready to charge and in their words, you know, shed blood and to -- they even had one of their social media posts was about how they were going to evacuate their own wounded, what the perimeters were for the Capitol.

This stuff should have been known and action should have been taken ahead of time. But to pretend we don't know who did it is not just hypocritical, it is dangerous.

COOPER: What did you make of Senator Hawley's line of questioning today, focusing on F.B.I. data collection instead of you know, what caused the insurrection and who committed it?

I mean, if he is so proud of what he did and there was nothing wrong with it, why wouldn't he try to get Chris Wray to somehow validate that in a public forum?

KLOBUCHAR: Exactly. I think we all know where Josh Hawley is coming from and where his other pals that are running for President are coming from. This is all about CPAC. This is all about Donald Trump. This is all about getting their base going.

And it's on the rest of us to make sure that the truth prevails. We know democracy prevailed in the last election. We know that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won. But now, we can't let this slip away from us again.

For those of us that were there late into the night at 4:00 a.m. Senator Blunt and I with Vice President Pence, we know very well how close this all was, as we finally finished our job and we can't go back. We have to keep the truth strong.

COOPER: You know, there are certainly legitimate questions about what the F.B.I. knew before the attack, what they did about it, something you pressed Director Wray about. Were you satisfied with what you heard from him today?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, I really wanted to and I think he was honest about this. Yes, they wish they would have had more information on the Proud Boys now that they are arrested 20 of them. That would have been, I think, quite clear what they were up to that day.

And the questions I was getting at is there were things that were known immediately before the attack that were sent to the Capitol Police. The Capitol Police somehow didn't read them at the highest levels. They didn't know about it, and why did that happen?

We know three leaders have now resigned because of this on the Capitol side. We need to get replacements in place, but we also have to change the structure of this, as I noted, the Capitol Police Board. So the Police Chief has the discretion to do what's necessary.

I think the most interesting thing of a hearing we're having tomorrow. Senator Peters and myself, as well as Senator Blunt and Portman is going to be the head of the D.C. National Guard.

He was in communication with the Capitol Police Chief, but most significantly, he was on the call with the Department of Defense, so he can give his version under oath of exactly what happened there and why the delay occurred.

COOPER: Yes, that will be fascinating. Senator Amy Klobuchar, I appreciate it. Thank you.

KLOBUCHAR: Thank you.

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