CNN "State of the Union with Candy Crowley" - Transcript: Interview With Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders

Interview

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TAPPER: On Friday night, President Trump then directed the State Department to freeze $200 million in recovery money for Syria.

What do you think? Do you support the president's move to pull out all U.S. troops?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: Well, it's not a yes or a no.

I think we absolutely do not want to get involved in this terrible civil war in Syria, which is so destructive, so destabilizing for the entire region. But I don't know that you can pull out tomorrow.

Our job now is to work with our allies in the entire region. And that is to do everything that we can to bring peace to Syria, make sure that Russia is part of that process. But, absolutely, I do not want to see American troops get stuck in a never-ending civil war, a brutal civil war, in Syria. But, by the way, one of the issues that I and some of my colleagues

have also worked on, where the president is very much on the other side, is that is that the United States has for the last several years been supporting Saudi Arabia in another humanitarian crisis in Yemen.

You're looking at one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, famine, a million people suffering from cholera, people drinking filthy water. And what I and Senator Lee and Senator Murphy have insisted that the time is long overdue for the United States Congress to accept its constitutional responsibility of war-making and not giving that over to the president.

And that's been the case for many, many years. We brought a resolution to the floor. We got 44 votes, which is a good start. But the bottom line is that if the United States is going to get involved in a war, it should not be the president who makes that decision.

It is, under the Constitution, the Congress. Congress has got to reestablish that authority.

TAPPER: Let's stay in that region for one second, because I want to turn to the violent clashes in Gaza over the weekend. You tweeted about this yesterday.

You wrote -- quote -- "The killing of Palestinian demonstrators by Israeli forces in Gaza is tragic. It is the right of all people to protest for a better future without a violent response" -- unquote.

The Israeli government called the protests -- quote -- "violent terror demonstrations." The ambassador of Israel to the United States said Hamas fighters were interspersed throughout the crowd, using human shields, and were killed after making -- quote -- "direct attacks" on Israeli positions.

[09:05:00]

Do you not accept the Israeli's government's explanation?

SANDERS: No, I don't.

I think, from what my understanding is, is you have tens and tens of thousands of people who are engaged in a nonviolent protest. I believe now 15 or 20 people, Palestinians, have been killed, and many, many others have been wounded.

So, I think it's a difficult situation, but my assessment is that Israel overreacted on that. But, again, the bottom line here is that the United States of America has got to be involved in dealing with the terrible tragedy in Gaza, whether it is Syria, whether it's Yemen, whether it's Gaza.

We're looking at the need for the international community, led by the United States, to deal with that situation. Gaza is a disaster right now. Youth unemployment is off the charts. And we are going to continue to see those kinds of demonstrations and protests, unless the world community recognizes the problem in Gaza and brings the Israelis and the Palestinians together to start addressing those problems.

TAPPER: You used to be the ranking Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affair Committee. This week, President Trump fired the director, the secretary of the VA, David Shulkin, announced his intention to hire his White House physician, Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson, to be the head of the VA.

Take a listen to what your Democratic colleague Senator Chris Coons had to say about Jackson.

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SEN. CHRIS COONS (D), DELAWARE: The Veterans Administration is one of the largest and most complex federal agencies. And this shows the troubling trend that President Trump has of preferring nominees for his Cabinet or Cabinet members who are personally loyal or who are telegenic, over those who have relevant, deep experience.

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TAPPER: Do you share Senator Coons' concerns about Dr. Jackson?

SANDERS: I do, absolutely. But this is part of a broader approach of the Trump administration.

Let us be clear. And Dr. Shulkin made this point in an op-ed the other day in "The New York Times." And the issue is, you have the Koch brothers, the third wealthiest family in this country, who are going to spend some $400 million with their billionaire friends on the coming elections, having enormous power over the Trump administration.

And what the Koch brothers believe is not just that we have to privatize the Veterans Administration. They want to privatize Medicare. And the Trump administration had a $500 billion cut in Medicare. They want to privatize Medicaid. They had a trillion- dollar cut in Medicaid.

They're beginning to go after Social Security. We have a secretary of education who does not believe in public education, a secretary of the environmental EPA who does not believe in environmental protection.

So, what you're looking at under the leadership of the Koch brothers is a massive effort to privatize agencies of the United States government and give them over to private corporations. That is what the removal of Shulkin is all about.

TAPPER: So, you think that Dr. Ronny Jackson is going to be supporting attempts to privatize the VA?

SANDERS: I think, as Chris Cons pointed out, he is -- he has no experience in this area.

But I would strongly suspect that, if you get rid of Shulkin, who opposed privatization, and you put Dr. Jackson in, that is what his mission will be. And I will tell you this. Jake, I have worked over the years with the

American Legion, the VFW, the DAV, and all of the veterans organizations. And, without exception, the major veterans organizations say, we have got to strengthen the VA, not dismember it, not privatize it.

And I will do everything I can as a member of the Veterans Committee not to approve any nominee who is not going to strengthen the VA and who will oppose privatization.

TAPPER: I want to ask you. This week, President Trump has been on Twitter hammering Internet giant Amazon and its owner, Jeff Bezos.

On Saturday, the president tweeted -- quote -- "Amazon must pay real costs and taxes now."

Now, you said this week that you are -- quote -- "absolutely concerned" about Amazon's -- quote -- "extraordinary power."

Do you think Amazon has gotten too big?

SANDERS: Yes, I do. I do.

And I think this is -- look, this is an issue that has got to be looked at. What we are seeing all over this country is the decline in retail. We're seeing this incredibly large company getting involved in almost every area of commerce. And I think it is important to take a look at the power and influence that Amazon has.

But, by the way, when we talk about the Trump administration, I think the most important point to be made, Jake, is that, on issue after issue, they are doing exactly the opposite of what the American people want us to do.

You know, right now, in this country -- we don't talk about it enough -- there are millions of people who are working two or three jobs because wages are much too low. And what the American people say is, raise the minimum wage to a living wage, 15 bucks an hour.

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That's what the American people want. I haven't heard one word from the Trump administration on that. I haven't heard one word about really taking on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry, so that Americans do not have to pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.

I am very concerned that they're going to go after -- they go after Medicaid and -- Medicaid. They are going to go after Social Security. You know what the American people want? They don't want to cut Social Security. They want to expand Social Security benefits.

They don't want to give billionaires tax breaks. In fact, they want to ask the wealthiest people in this country to start paying their fair share of taxes. So, I would hope, whether it's guns, whether it's Social Security, whether it's prescription drugs, that the Trump administration start listening to the American people, not just the billionaire class and the Koch brothers.

TAPPER: Senator Sanders, always good to see you. Happy Passover and Happy Easter to all of your constituents there in Vermont.

SANDERS: Thank you very much, Jake.

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