NBC News " Meet The Press" - Transcript: Sanders On Democratic National Convention
Interview
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CHUCK TODD:
Tremendous shots there of a beautiful city. Welcome back. It's not the kind of thing you want happening days before your convention. This weekend, Wikileaks released nearly 20,000 emails sent and received by members of the Democratic National Committee, some of which seem to confirm what a lot of people had suspected, that the DNC was playing favorites with Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders.
It appears Wikileaks either stole these emails or got them from a source. Remember, the DNC was hacked a few months ago. Among the emails was one from the DNC's Chief Financial Officer Brad Marshall that was looking ahead to the contests in Kentucky and West Virginia in early May. While not mentioning Sanders specifically by name, the email appeared to question Sanders' faith.
He wrote this, quote: "Does he believe in a god? I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist." Well, Sanders has long believed that DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz was in Clinton's corner the whole campaign. Well, he joins me now. Senator Sanders, welcome back to Meet the Press.
And I should note that you talked about your belief in God last fall in an interview, I think, with your hometown paper there, so want to get that out of the way. So let me start with this question questioning your faith. Brad Marshall apologized on Facebook. Has anyone apologized to you personally? And what is your response to this entire discussion?
BERNIE SANDERS:
Well, no, nobody has apologized to me. And as you just mentioned, this really does not come as a shock to me or my supporters. There is no question but the DNC was on Secretary Clinton's side from day one. We all know that. And I think, as I have said a long time ago, that the time is now for Debbie Wasserman Schultz to step aside, not only for these issues.
We need a Democratic Party that is open, that's going to bring young people and working people into it, that is going to stand up and take on the big money interests and fight for working families. I don't think Debbie has been that type of leader. So I would hope, and I said this many months ago, that she would--
CHUCK TODD:
Right.
BERNIE SANDERS:
--step aside, we would have new leadership.
CHUCK TODD:
And do you think it needs to happen now, today, before the start of the convention?
BERNIE SANDERS:
Well--
CHUCK TODD:
Would that help calm some of your supporters down?
BERNIE SANDERS:
Well, I think what is already happening is that it's clear she is not going to be speaking to the convention. That is the right thing. I think right now what we have got to focus on as Democrats is defeating perhaps the worst Republican candidate that I have seen in my lifetime. Donald Trump would be a disaster for this country. He must be defeated.
We've got to elect Secretary Clinton on every single issue: fighting for the middle class on health care, on climate change, is a far, far superior candidate to Trump. That's where I think the focus has got to be.
CHUCK TODD:
Do you believe that the DNC's apparent favoritism cost you this race?
BERNIE SANDERS:
Well, I think you-- there are a lot of reasons why one loses. We started off 50 points behind Secretary Clinton. We had the opposition of virtually the entire Democratic leadership in every state in this country. And by the way, in terms of media, we did not get the kind of media attention that somebody like a Donald Trump got, because media is not necessarily interested in the issues facing the middle class, more interested in attacks in personality. So I think there were a lot of reasons.
But I will tell you this, Chuck, from the bottom of my heart, I am extraordinarily proud of the campaign that we ran. The issues that we raised, the fact that we got 13 million Americans to vote for a political revolution. People who know the economy is rigged in favor of big money, people who know that our middle class continues to decline and we have to go outside of establishment politics and economics, people who know that we need to reform a broken criminal justice system and we need comprehensive immigration reform.
The people-- what we did in our campaign is bring people together to say, "You know what? This country, our government, belongs to all of us and not just a few." So I am very proud of the campaign we ran and the supporters that came on board.
CHUCK TODD:
So just to sum up here, these leaks, these emails, it hasn't given you any pause about your support for Hillary Clinton?
BERNIE SANDERS:
No, no, no. We are going to do everything that we can to protect working families in this country. And again, Chuck, I know media is not necessarily focused on these things. But what a campaign is about is not Hillary Clinton, it's not Donald Trump. It is the people of this country, people who are working longer hours for lower wages, people who do not have health care or are underinsured.
Hillary Clinton and I have worked together on a higher education proposal which will guarantee free tuition in public colleges and universities for every family in this country making $125,000 a year or less. We're going to fight for paid family and medical leave. Those are the issues that the American people want to hear discussed, and I'm going to go around the country discussing them and making sure that Hillary Clinton is elected president.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, The Green Party presumptive nominee, Jill Stein, put out a release yesterday about the emails. And she said this: "Democratic Party elites have been caught red-handed, sabotaging a grassroots campaign that tried to bring huge numbers of young people, independents and non-voters into their party. Instead, they have shown exactly why America needs a new major party, a truly democratic party for the people." Are you going to urge your supporters not to support Jill Stein and try to thwart her efforts to recruit your supporters?
BERNIE SANDERS:
Well, you know, let me just say this. As the longest serving Independent in the history of the United States Congress, as somebody who came into office by defeating an incumbent Democratic mayor in Burlington, Vermont, I know something about third party politics. And I respect Jill.
But right now, the focus, to my mind, is to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States. I think by temperament he is unqualified to be president. I think his views-- you have a guy who's running for president who rejects science, doesn't even believe climate change is real, let alone wants to do something about it, wants to give hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to the top two-tenths of one percent.
CHUCK TODD:
Let me ask you--
BERNIE SANDERS:
So my job right now is to see that Donald Trump is defeated, Hillary Clinton is elected.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, he makes a big deal out of the fact that you and he agree on one big issue, and that is trade deals, that these trade deals have been bad for the country. And he basically says that Clinton and Kaine, as a ticket, aren't-- that their opposition, for instance, the TPP as sort of Johnny-come-lately, that it can't be trusted, and that Sanders supporters should support Trump if they care about trade. What do you say to that?
BERNIE SANDERS:
Well, I think in terms of who can be trusted, I think the evidence is clear that there has been no candidate that I have ever seen who lies more often than does Donald Trump. I mean and that's just not me saying it, that's what any independent media analysis has shown. So in terms of trust, you really can't trust a word, I think, that Mr. Trump has to say.
In terms of the TPP, it is no secret. I think our trade policies, for many, many years, have been a disaster. They have benefited corporate America at the expense of working people. Secretary Clinton has come out in opposition to the TPP, does not want to see it--
CHUCK TODD:
Right.
BERNIE SANDERS:
--appear in the lame duck Congress. That's my view, as well.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, some of your supporters are disappointed in the pick of Tim Kaine, that he's not progressive enough. I know Tim Kaine called you after he was picked. Do you consider Tim Kaine a progressive? And are you happy with this pick?
BERNIE SANDERS:
Look, you know, the pick is Secretary Clinton's. I've known Tim Kaine for a number of years. We've served in the Senate together, obviously. Tim is a very, very smart guy. He's a very nice guy. His political views are not my political views. He is more conservative than I am. Would I have preferred to see somebody like an Elizabeth Warren selected by Secretary Clinton? Yes, I would have.
CHUCK TODD:
And then finally, do you feel as if, that you, when you got Glass-Steagall, I wanted to ask about this, because it looks like the one thing that both parties may agree on in their platforms is putting-- is being in favor of reinstating Glass-Steagall. Does this mean we will see that happen in the next Congress?
BERNIE SANDERS:
Well, I'm going to do everything that I can to make it happen. You know, when we talk about our campaign, one of the things that we have been able to do, Chuck, is create the most progressive Democratic platform in the history of the Democratic Party, and that includes breaking up the large Wall Street banks and reestablishing Glass-Steagall.
I think the American people understand that we cannot continue to have a handful of reckless, irresponsible banks often acting illegally, that something has to happen. They have to be broken up.
CHUCK TODD:
All right, Senator Bernie Sanders. The big speech is tomorrow night. We'll be waiting for you here in a very, very hot Philadelphia, over 100 degrees.
BERNIE SANDERS:
Okay.
CHUCK TODD:
Senator Sanders, thanks for coming on. Good to see you, sir.
BERNIE SANDERS:
Thank you very much.
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