CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Interview

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COOPER: Well, earlier tonight, I talked with Vermont independent Senator Bernie Sanders to get his stake on the Saudi situation, as well as the Trump doctrine overseas.

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COOPER: Senator Sanders, this new reporting that the Saudis are planning to acknowledge Khashoggi's death as a result of interrogation that went wrong, I mean, if that ends up being the narrative that they put forward, do you buy that?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: Interrogation that went wrong. Well, it tells me, Anderson, that if the Saudi embassy invites you for a little discussion, you may not want to go there. I don't know what that means.

It sounds to me like they killed this guy. He was a dissident and a critic of the regime.

COOPER: You know, on "60 Minutes" last night, the president vowed severe punishment if Saudi Arabia is behind Khashoggi's disappearance. Do you think he would actually follow up with that? I mean, if the Saudi government did, in fact, direct this?

SANDERS: No, I don't think so. I mean, that's what he said yesterday. God knows what he will say tomorrow.

The president and Jared Kushner are very tight with the Saudi regime and I have little doubt that the United States, at least the Trump administration, would do everything it can to protect the Saudis. In my view, we have got to rethink our arms deals, the sale of huge amounts of weapons to Saudi Arabia. I think if, in fact, it turns out what I believe to be true is that Khashoggi was killed by the Saudis, it requires some sanctions and it requires a fundamental rethinking of U.S./Saudi relations.

COOPER: The president has up until now given the Saudis obviously the benefit of the doubt, saying they vehemently denied any involvement, that rogue killers could have been the ones behind this. It's interesting, because he does seem to have a public history at least of believing denials whether it's Roy Moore said, you know, he didn't do anything. People say they didn't do anything. That seems to be kind of his go-to response often.

SANDERS: It's convenient denials. Putin said -- you recall when he was in Helsinki, when Trump was in Helsinki with Putin said, and Putin said, we had nothing to do, no involvement in trying to sabotage U.S. elections. Well, every intelligence agency in the United States government said

otherwise and then Trump after his discussion with Putin says, Mr. Putin told me they had no involvement. And I believe him. Well, you know, he is now a great, you know, friend of Kim Jong-un in North Korea, one of the worst autocrats and dictators in the world. He loves the guy, you know, Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia.

I think this speaks, Anderson, to the fact that we have a president who has very strong authoritarian tendencies, who likes strong men all over the world. And we are seeing those authoritarian tendencies right here in the United States, where he attacks the media as an enemy of the people. First Amendment rights, that's what media is about, hacks and independent judiciary, is working for voter suppression. So, I think of the many concerns that I have about Trump, and his tax breaks for billionaires and he's trying to throw people off health insurance, this movement toward an authoritarian type society and support of authoritarians all over the world should be of concern to every American who believes in democracy.

COOPER: If there is a Trump doctrine, I mean, you saw him in the "60 Minutes" interview, it seems like he is willing to look or overlook moral outrages, whether it's the Russian meddling in the election, or Putin's alleged assassination involved in assassinations, and poisonings, Kim Jong-un's human rights abuses, it doesn't seem like that this president or this administration has a vision of America as, you know, they were critical of Obama for not believing in American exceptionalism. It doesn't seem like they have a vision of America as being somehow different than the rest of the world.

SANDERS: Worse than many of the leading countries in the world. It saddens me very much to see all over the world, they do a poll, they do international polls and they ask people all over the world, what do you think of the United States of America? We used to be very, very high up. People said, we love the United States. We respect the United States. We want to come to the United States.

And now, that international feeling, that approval has plummeted under Trump because people see a regime, an administration right here in the United States that is not standing up what has historically been what the United States is supposed to be about, that is support for democracy, support for human rights, support for the oppressed all over the world.

COOPER: Senator Sanders, appreciate your time. Thank you, Anderson.

SANDERS: Thank you, Anderson.

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