MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Interview

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HAYES: Mitch McConnell might think that women, finding their voices and  using their First Amendment right to petition the government is  intimidation. But come next year he could gain a Democratic colleague at  least in the House who herself is a history direct action. New York  Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stunned the political establishment this  year by winning a primary over Congressman Joe Crowley, part of Democratic  House leadership. She`s on the ballot for Congress November and she joins  me now. How are you?

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, NEW YORK: Hi! I`m  well. How are you?

HAYES: How are you feeling today?

CORTEZ: Well, frustrated, upset, disappointed, but I`m also fired up. I  think that we`re going to be really committing very hard not just to  organizing through November but also organizing through the next four, six  years I think and we really just need to take this country and bring it  back to the basics of democracy.

HAYES: I want to -- I want to -- this was a theme today from Republicans  about all these protesters there which to me you know, I sort of feel like  yelling at an elected representative is literally definition of a free  society in like a literal set. Like that`s what a free society look. You  can yell at someone in power, they can`t like come to your house and take  you away.

CORTEZ: Yes, yes.

HAYES: But they didn`t like it so. I want to play you, Chuck Grassley,  talking about mob rule and get your response. Take a listen.

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HAYES: No to mob rule.

CORTEZ: Well, first of all, American democracy is built by the people, for  the people, it is our attempt at Americans pursuing self-governance. But  you know, I think if a lot of these Republican senators are upset at the  reaction that`s going on, maybe they should stop running away from their  town halls, maybe they should visit their constituents, maybe they should  pick up the phone, maybe they should answer our e-mails. But because they  are running away from the basic tenets of democracy, our job is not to  preside over our communities, our job is to listen to our communities. Our  job is to serve our communities.

And we are -- when we are not serving our communities by making sure that  we are vetting justices, that we are pursuing due process, that we are  listening to sexual assault survivors in our communities then we aren`t  doing our job. And these folks are not doing their job. How are you going  to get along with these people in Washington? I mean I think you`re going  to win. That`s a prediction --

CORTEZ: Thank you.

HAYES: I don`t know. I mean, you know, you never -- until the bell rings  but you`re in a very heavily Democratic district. You`re going there -- I  mean, you`re going in there`s time where people talked about how it`s  broken and it`s so polarized, both of which I think are true and you`re  also coming really as an outsider at a moment where I think people like  we`re watching what happened today and want to storm the gates and you`re  going to actually do that. So what`s your plan?`

CORTEZ: Well, I think a lot of it has to do with changing our strategy  around governance. You know, there`s a lot of inside baseball and inside  the beltway, as you know, you always hear that term thrown around but there  are very few organizers in Congress and I do think that organizers operate  differently. It`s a some kind of strategy. And what it is it`s really  about organizing and really thinking about that word organizing, segmenting  people, being strategic in their actions in really bringing together a  cohesive strategy, of putting pressure on the chamber instead of only  focusing on the pressures inside the chamber.

HAYES: That`s really interesting thought. You know, organizing also one  of the things I think about organizing too is it`s -- a lot of it`s about  listening and keeping an open mind, right? I mean, you`re going to have  decisions that you`re going to have to encounter with or constituents might  have different politics in it, the folks you represent.

CORTEZ: Yes. Yes, absolutely. And I think that`s -- that is part of why  we`ve been so successful in the district is because people understand that  our campaign and my candidacy has a very specific point of view but also in  part -- actually largely in part because I do not take any corporate  lobbyist money, they know that I`m working for them. They know that they  can call my office and pick up the phone and say hey you know, this is  something that we disagree with and that I have an obligation to listen to  my community.

HAYES: You`ve done -- you`ve done some interesting stuff in terms of who  you`re listening to and that`s I think the real question right now, right?  Like who`s Congress listening to. You saw all these survivors telling  their stories. You`ve done stuff with immigrants who are undocumented and  I think with survivors as well. In your district, what is that been like?

CORTEZ: Well, you know, in this -- this political moment is so unique and  sometimes I feel like I have this job of being something of a social worker  or even a therapist in my district because this period has been so -- has  been so re-traumatizing for so many folks. And especially in a country  where we do not have reliable access to health care, let alone affordable  health care, people --

HAYES: Let alone mental health care, good God.

CORTEZ: Let alone mental health care. This has been a very difficult time  for immigrants, for women, for survivors, for people will just care about  the health of American democracy. It`s very stressful. And so that  listening defuses a lot of the tensions in our communities and it`s a form  of active work beyond just legislation or beyond just policymaking. It`s  really getting hands deep and our hands dirty in our communities in saying  -- and finding the issues that we need to solve instead of just waiting for them to wash up on our door.

And I think that really what we`re seeing here with Kavanaugh, with all of  this stuff is just a complete abdication of responsibility -- of our  responsibility as representatives. When you are -- when you are at the  point where you are blaming your own constituents and calling your own  constituents a mob, that is the exact opposite of being a representative.  That is the exact opposite of being a public servant and that tells me that  those folks anybody regardless of your party if you have that attitude you  got to go.

HAYES: Finally, there`s a new issue of Vanity Fair out that has you on the  cover. That`s you. I`m trying to think of the last person from the Bronx  on the Vanity Fair cover was, there`s probably been a minute.

CORTEZ: Yes, it probably has. I mean, who knows. I think J-Lo was there.

HAYES: I actually was going to say probably -- I had to nominate who --  you know what, maybe Lynn -- no, no --

CORTEZ: Neil deGrasse Tyson.

HAYES: Neil deGrasse Tyson maybe, yes. I think he was probably the most  likely. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, it`s always a pleasure to come by.  Thank you very much.

CORTEZ: Thank you. Thank you so much.

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