MSNBC host and chief Washington correspondent Andrea Mitchell flaunted her admiration for Democrats and communist dictators on Tuesday’s Andrea Mitchell Reports as she gushed about Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and his new “beautiful book.” She longed for the old days when Democrats controlled the Senate and lauded Leahy’s work with her favorite murderous monster, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
“With politics more divided than ever in our country, voters angrier about governmental institutions and pessimistic about the country's direction, it's a good moment to look back at a time when the United States Senate was indeed the conscience of the nation with a man who has served for more than 40 years under nine American presidents,” Mitchell opined as she introduced Leahy and his new book, The Road Taken.
After spending a few minutes getting Leahy’s reaction on contemporary political stories, Mitchell shifted gears into reverse and wanted to reminisce about that past. “I want to ask you about what the Senate was like in 1974, you were one of the Watergate class reformers who came to Washington” she touted.
She wanted him to discuss the “relationships among the in the senators, the senators I used to cover in the '80s and '90s and both parties the friendships that existed.” “Talk to me about Ted Kennedy,” she said.
Leahy recalled how late Senator and killer Ted Kennedy (D-MA) would strike deals with Republicans as they laughed and drank in his office. “And those kinds of relationships, do they exist now,” Mitchell followed up. “No,” Leahy answered, “there's a few but there’s less and less.”
Eager to draw attention from Leahy’s photography hobby and the images in his book, Mitchell boasted that the Senator was “a well-known photographer” who used his “access” to be a “fly on the wall” and take pictures. She was particularly interested in a picture of him and Castro:
MITCHELL: And then all of the leaders you’ve known. Fidel Castro. I know, you spent a lot of time in Cuba, you were negotiating on the Elian Gonzalez case back in 1999. That was a key moment.
LEAHY: Actually Marcelle took that picture—
MITCHELL: It goes in the family, your wife, who’s always at your side.
LEAHY: Marcelle always has a camera with her, too.
MITCHELL: And getting Alan Gross out the American in prison for so long. Who flew him back and I remember we were all covering that story for so long. And it was you who went down there.
Mitchell seemed to long for the days when Democrats were in control of the Senate as she lamented how “we have this 50/50 Senate” and wanted to know, “is there any way to get back to those years?” Leahy was disheartened that not even January 6 would bring the Senate together.
As they were winding down the interview, Mitchell heaped praise on the retiring Senator. “Well, I'm wishing you all the best. You still have many more months there. So, we still have the pleasure of your presence,” she said. “It's a privilege.”
This praise for Senator Leahy’s book was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships AT&T and Progressive. Their contact information is linked.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports
August 23, 2022
12:17:51 p.m. EasternANDREA MITCHELL: With politics more divided than ever in our country, voters angrier about governmental institutions and pessimistic about the country's direction, it's a good moment to look back at a time when the United States Senate was indeed the conscience of the nation with a man who has served for more than 40 years under nine American presidents.
And so, joining me is Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont. He's currently the president pro tem and chairman of the Appropriations Committee and his new memoir is – it’s out today – The Road Taken.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT): The Road Taken, yeah.
MITCHELL: And it is a beautiful book –
LEAHY: Thank you.
MITCHELL: -- telling the history of the Senate, of your experiences there, and your childhood, of course.
(…)
12:22:06 p.m. Eastern
MITCHELL: I want to ask you about what the Senate was like in 1974, you were one of the Watergate class reformers who came to Washington. And relationships among the in the senators, the senators I used to cover in the '80s and '90s and both parties the friendships that existed. Talk to me about Ted Kennedy.
LEAHY: It was so different. I mean, Ted Kennedy, I loved it when we'd meet in his office. You could hear his roar of laughter down the hall. When you get in there there’d be key Republicans, key Democrats and they'd be laughing and joking and then agreeing on something. And I’ve tried to carry on that same feature with my offices.
Because of seniority and being president pro tem, I get some nice offices but what I do, I loan them out to people if they have their family there, they want to have a lunch or a dinner or take photographs. But I also try to have both Republicans and Democrats come in and let's just talk.
When I first came here, that was done all the time. You mentioned Ted Kennedy. Another was Senator Hubert Humphrey and Barry Goldwater – a million miles apart philosophically – sitting on a couch, having a drink, teasing the heck out of each other, but then agreeing on something and when they did, they came together, it always passed.
MITCHELL: And those kinds of relationships, do they exist now?
LEAHY: No, they've – there's a few but there’s less and less. When I bring a congressional delegation anywhere out of the country, I always trying to have both Republicans and Democrats across the political spectrum. I've done that with the work I’ve done in Vietnam to help normalize. I've done it with the Leahy War Victims Fund. And it's amazing how quickly you find – especially on a long plane trip, you sit around talking, you find so many areas where you're in agreement. And I think as much legislation gets initially passed on some of those things, but we don't do enough of it. There's too many meetings of just Republicans or just Democrats.
MITCHELL: You are a well-known photographer, you’ve had the access, of course. You don't use lights. You just sort of fly on the wall. Some of my favorite pictures in this book – Well, first of all the beautiful picture of Vermont, your home state.
LEAHY: That's how I see it. That’s right off our front steps of our home, we live on a dirt road, we look down the valley. And that's a beautiful, beautiful spot.
MITCHELL: And then all of the leaders you’ve known. Fidel Castro. I know, you spent a lot of time in Cuba, you were negotiating on the Elian Gonzalez case back in 1999. That was a key moment.
LEAHY: Actually Marcelle took that picture—
MITCHELL: It goes in the family, your wife, who’s always at your side.
LEAHY: Marcelle always has a camera with her, too.
MITCHELL: And getting Alan Gross out the American in prison for so long. Who flew him back and I remember we were all covering that story for so long. And it was you who went down there.
Some of the other relationships—
LEAHY: I took that picture, we had the president's airplane going down and this is right after I pointed out on the TV screen we were over U.S. territory. I said, you're free, Alan. You're free.
MITCHELL: And Barack Obama, your gym partner, who was on the Stairmaster and elliptical, you were side by side?
LEAHY: I would use the stationary bike and – and we talked about the times we spent in the gym. He's a lot better shape than I am, but we would trash talk each other I mean, because we'd be just the two of us in there. And anybody that didn't know us would go, “my God, what's wrong with those two guys? They must hate each other.” And we’d walk out of the gym with our arms around each other laughing our heads off.
And that's a picture I took of Barack Obama after he had been elected president and he's standing right below the painting of George Washington. They've got the same expression on their face.
MITCHELL: I think we cut off the top of it, if we could widen that frame. Because that's a wonderful Washington picture.
LEAHY: I had the only camera in the room, and I thought, “oh, look at the history of this. Our first president, white George Washington and here's the latest president at that time, Barack Obama,” and I gave him that picture.
MITCHELL: When you think back on the Senate and how it used to be, is there any way to get back to those years? We have this 50/50 Senate. We’ve got so many divisions, impeachment and January 6, and the conflicting reactions to January 6, the attack on the Senate itself and on our election process, our very democracy.
LEAHY: Well, I worry about this because, of course, there's difference politically, but we should be the conscience of the nation and there are some things where we should all come together.
I remember Howard Baker, after a bomb had gone off in the capitol in the early '80s and there was a lot of destruction near the Capitol, but when we came back in the session that morning, all 100 senators were sitting there united and being opposed to that. You would think January 6 would have done the same thing.
There's a glimmer of it when we went into a secure area, had most of the Senate and they said, “you know, we can vote to meet here. We could vote to meet anywhere as a U.S. Senate.” And I said, “No, I'm the dean of the Senate. Let me say this: We ought to be back on the Senate floor where the American people can see us, whatever positions we take, we should do it in the open.” And I got strong applause from both Republicans and Democrats.
And I thought for a moment, “well, maybe we're starting to come back to where we should be.” Unfortunately, the moment didn't last long enough.
MITCHELL: Any thoughts about leaving the Senate?
LEAHY: No, this is actually something Marcelle and I started talking about right after my last election. I wanted to leave when I felt I was at the top of my game. We're both homesick for Vermont, and it was a good time to leave. I've seen senators who stayed too long. I didn't want to be one of those. Besides, we both like to scuba dive and we'll have more time to do that now.
MITCHELL: Well, I'm wishing you all the best. You still have many more months there.
LEAHY: I do.
MITCHELL: So, we still have the pleasure of your presence.
LEAHY: Marcelle and I have been on this road together before and we'll leave together.
MITCHELL: Thank you so much, Senator Patrick Leahy.
LEAHY: Thank you.
MITCHELL: It's a privilege.
LEAHY: Thank you.
