MSNBC "All in with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto

Interview

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HAYES: One of the post fascinating races to watch is the one for the U.S.  Senate seat in Nevada. Democratic candidate Jackie Rosen backed by former  president Barack Obama is running neck and neck against the incumbent  Republican Senator Dean Heller, a one-time Trump critic, though it was a  while ago, who just told the president at a rally last Saturday, quote,  "everything you touch turns to gold."

If Democrats want any chance of taking back the senate majority in 12 days  time, they will absolutely need to beat Dean Heller. It is a must-have  seat. He is the only Republican senator up for reelection in a state that  Hillary Clinton won in 2016.

And joining me now is the junior Senator from Nevada, Democrat Catherine  Cortez Masto. Senator, it`s very nice to have you on the program.

SEN. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, (D) NEVADA: Great, Chris, it`s great to be  here with you.

HAYES: What is the race like in Nevada? What are the issues front and  center there?

CORTEZ MASTO: Well, first of all, let me tell you there is so much energy  here. There is energy on the ground. Democrats are turning out numbers  that I never seen before, particularly in a mid-term in Nevada.
And the numbers and the energy and the issues all around health care,  right? It`s about health care. It`s about overage. We`re in a is that it  in Nevada where we -- thanks to the Affordable Care Act -- expanded  coverage to 400,000 Nevadans in our rural communities and urban areas.  More people have access to health care, pre-existing conditions, coverage.

I literally just came from a meeting with some families with the Juvenile  Diabetes Foundation and the number one concern from those teens as well as  their parents was what is going to happen  if they take away our pre-existing conditions, which they`re hearing from  Mitch McConnell and some of the Republicans in the administration.

So it`s the number one issue. But along with that it is jobs, it`s making  sure that working families have, you know, all of the support that they  need from wages and good paying jobs.

HAYES: Let me ask you this, you are the junior senator of Nevada. You  serve with Dean Heller. I imagine you work together on a bunch of issues.  Are you campaigning against him? What do you think against them?

CORTEZ MASTO: No, listen, Nevada is still small enough. We all know one  another, right, you literally can walk into a restaurant or grocery store  and walk and talk to a governor or a Senator.

I`ve known Dean for a long time. We`re friends. But he also knows that  I`m fighting for the issues that are important to the people of the state  of Nevada, like health care, like keeping health care pre-existing  conditions, protecting our Social Security and our Medicaid and Medicare.  Those are our number one issues.
And I know in this race, and I think voters also know that Jackie Rosen is  the one that`s going to fight for them. She`s going to be a decisive vote  in protecting health care and this country, and ensuring that individuals,  particularly retirees, can retire with dignity and still have access to  Social Security and Medicaid and Medicare.

HAYES: What about the president`s role? I mean, obviously, he has been supporting Dean Heller. I believe had a rally there in Nevada. I`ve lost track of all the states he`s gone to.

Is he a central figure in this campaign? Do you view the campaign as a  referendum on him?

CORTEZ MASTO: I think it`s a combination of things. There is no doubt  there are people coming out, because of the concerns from this  administration and what they`ve heard. Again, remember, we also are in a  state where almost a third of the population is Latino. And there is a  Latino vote. And people are coming out, because they are protecting one  another, supporting their community and concerned about the anti-immigrant  agenda that this administration has gone down.

But there is also health care. If you go into our Latino populations,  their concern is performing for prescription drugs, making sure that, you  know, when I go into some of -- and talk to some of these Latinas, it is  about being able to afford those prescription drugs and still put food on  the table and have a roof over your head.
It`s about an education, good education for your kids, and good paying  jobs. That`s no different across this country. In Nevada, hats the number  one issue and people are coming out. Let me say this, Chris, because this  is a mid-term. And It`s very difficult for mid-terms -- for Democrats in  mid-terms, but we have a 70,000 active voter advantage, Democrats over  Republicans, in Nevada. We are in the middle of early voting right now.  It started on Saturday. First five days of early voting, 90,000 Democrats  came out. We have a lead of more Democrats in Clark County as well as  Washoe County coming out to vote. We`ve never seen anything like that in a  mid-term.

So that tells me the energy is there. People are paying attention to the  issues they care about. And they are going to be, I think, coming out in a  referendum on what they`re seeing coming out of Washington from this  administration and the leadership that want to take away health care, that  want to  balance, you know, tax cuts on the backs of hard working families. They  are just -- they`re not going to stand for it, and rightfully so.

HAYES: You just mentioned mentioned the enthusiasm. And Nevada is such a  fascinating state and so distinct in so many ways, both sort of its  demographic makeup, but also it`s a very organized state, obviously the  Culinary Workers Union is a real sort of backbone of a lot of folks there,  particularly around Las Vegas. And it`s also been a very organized state  in which Harry Reid and the Culinary Workers Union and others have built a  sort of infrastructure that can get people to the polls. Is that still  enduring now?

CORTEZ MASTO: Absolutely, absolutely. They`re energized. This is an  organized labor -- strong organized labor state. It is about the working  families. Again, they`re no different from the working families all across  this state. And they are strong. They are boots on the ground. They are  the front lines knocking on doors, registering people, and now getting them  to the polls. They`re not to be underestimated. And they have been  working hard.

And, you know, you said it, Senator Reid is the one that had the foresight to invest in a strong Democratic infrastructure and a strong coordinated campaign. And what you see now as a continuation of that, I have pledged my support to make sure that we continue this strong infrastructure and it is now an organization. 
That`s our strength, right?

HAYES: There is nothing like it in the country, particularly in any swing  state.

Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, thanks so much for your time tonight.

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