ON “CBS THIS MORNING,” SENATOR MARK WARNER SAYS TRUMP IS DISMISSING RUSSIAN THREAT BECAUSE HE’S “OBSESSED” WITH HIS OWN WELL-BEING

ON “CBS THIS MORNING,” SENATOR MARK WARNER SAYS TRUMP IS DISMISSING RUSSIAN THREAT BECAUSE HE’S “OBSESSED” WITH HIS OWN WELL-BEING

Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. He joined CBS THIS MORNING today in his first TV interview since the Mueller hearing. Watch the interview in the link below.

WATCH HERE: https://cbsn.ws/2K3RPQe

EXCERPTS:

- On what he thought of the Mueller hearings: “I think anyone who expected bombshells on either side didn’t get it.”

- “[The Russians] are literally attacking us each and every day… this ought to be a national security issue… this president seems so obsessed about his own kind of personal wellbeing, that he dismisses this threat and... he does not ake our nation safer.”

- On Mueller’s comments on Russian interference: “I’m not here to re-litigate Mueller’s conclusions… I am here to make sure we are safe in 2020 and unless we pass additional legislation… we’re not doing all we can to protect that process.”

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:

TONY DOKOUPIL: Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner is the Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. That committee is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election and he joins us now from Washington in his first TV interview since the Mueller hearing. Senator, good morning.

SENATOR MARK WARNER: Good morning.

TONY DOKOUPIL: You have not been among those members of your party calling for an impeachment inquiry. Did what you saw and heard yesterday change the calculation for you?

SENATOR MARK WARNER: It didn’t change the calculation – I’m going to leave that to Speaker Pelosi. Where we’ve been focused is the point that Bob Mueller made repeatedly yesterday – not only did Russia attack us in 2016, but they will be back in 2020. And, candidly, what I’m amazed at - I’ve got no interest in re-litigating 2016, I am interested in making sure that we have appropriate protections in place in 2020. Let’s make sure there is a law that says, if a foreign government tries to intervene, tell the FBI. Let’s make sure every ballot that’s cast in 2020 has a paper ballot back up. Let’s make sure we take bipartisan legislation we’ve got, so that if a foreign government intervenes we immediately slap sanctions on. And let’s also try to make sure that we’ve got some rules of the road on social media so that people can know when they are hearing from a human being versus a bot when we have the same kind of political disclosure – the political ads on the web, that we have on TV. This is fairly common sense, bipartisan stuff, and my hope would be that Leader McConnell and this White House would agree to bring this kind of legislation to the floor.

GAYLE KING: We shall see. Senator, President Trump called Mueller’s testimony a disaster for the Democrats yesterday. So a couple of things, I want to know what you thought about his testimony yesterday, and what did the Democratic party accomplish, if anything, out of these hearings?

SENATOR MARK WARNER: Candidly, I was working yesterday, and only got a chance to catch bits and pieces of the testimony -- 

GAYLE KING: Well the bits and pieces you saw, what did you think?

SENATOR MARK WARNER: Well, he had told us beforehand, he was going to stick to the script, that he was not going to go outside the four corners of the report. He did that. I think anyone who expected bombshells on either side, didn’t get it. But I keep coming back to what I thought was, you know, not in the re-litigating of 2016, but in how we protect ourselves. The fact that he said, not only are Russians coming back to attack, but they are literally attacking us each and every day. I would hope that every American – I don’t care where you fall on the partisan scale, would take that as a warning and recognize that same message is coming out of Donald Trump’s own Director of the FBI, Chris Wray. It’s coming out of Trump’s own Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats. And this ought to be a national security issue. And what, again bothers me, is this president seems so obsessed about his own, kind of, personal well-being, that he dismisses this threat, and frankly when he goes to a G20 meeting, and makes light of this issue with Vladimir Putin, he does not make our nation safer.

TONY DOKOUPIL: Senator, in speaking about the president there, you said earlier this year that there were enormous amounts of evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. Robert Mueller reiterated again yesterday that he did not find that. So given your earlier comments and given what’s in the report, do you owe the president an apology?

SENATOR MARK WARNER: The – we are still finishing our counterintelligence investigation. We still have not gotten access to, literally reams of counterintelligence evidence. And I believe what Mr. Mueller said yesterday, at least what was reported to me was, he said they didn’t even look at collusion, because collusion is not a legal terminology. They did say, there were well over a hundred contacts between Russians and individuals in the Trump campaign. And as somebody who’s been around certain presidential campaigns in the past, that’s just not normal.

TONY DOKOUPIL: But Senator, with all due respect, the report does say that collusion and conspiracy are functionally synonymous and –

SENATOR MARK WARNER: Well I –

TONY DOKOUPIL: –conspiracy was not established by the evidence.

SENATOR MARK WARNER: Listen, I’m not here to try to re-litigate Mueller’s conclusions. I am here to make sure we are safe in 2020. And unless we pass additional legislation, unless this White House and Mitch McConnell allows these bills to come to the floor, bills that would get 75, 80 votes, we’re not doing all we can to protect our process.

GAYLE KING: The latest poll from CBS shows that most Americans are ready -- they have had it up to here with the Mueller report – they are ready to move on. Do you agree, yes or no?

SENATOR MARK WARNER: Listen, I have been on this for the last couple of years. Our investigation has got to finish, I think, you know, moving on from whether we re-litigate 2016 is one issue. Making sure that we are safe in 2020, I think, Gayle, I’ve seen those very same polls, who, the vast majority of Americans agree the Russians intervened. And when you’ve got Donald Trump’s very own FBI director, Director of National Intelligence, and now Bob Mueller continuing to say they will be back and they are attacking us on a day to day basis, I would think, I would be anxious to hear from any of my colleagues why they wouldn’t support the kind of common sense plans and legislation I outlined earlier in the interview. 

GAYLE KING: Alright Senator Warner, we thank you for taking the time –

SENATOR MARK WARNER: Thank you.

GAYLE KING: We really appreciate it.

Each weekday morning, Gayle King, Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil deliver two hours of original reporting, breaking news and top-level newsmaker interviews in an engaging and informative format that challenges the norm in network morning news programs. The broadcast has earned a prestigious Peabody Award, a Polk Award, four News & Documentary Emmys, three Daytime Emmys and the 2017 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast. The broadcast was also honored with an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award as part of CBS News division-wide coverage of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Follow CBS THIS MORNING on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

 

Diana Miller is the executive producer of CBS THIS MORNING.