MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Jacky Rosen

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

MATTHEWS: I always say to my wife, who never did this, you can always tell  the person who`s waited tables, as opposed to who hasn`t.

Being a waitperson, a waitress, a waiter, you learn about human nature.  You were a waitress at Caesars Palace. What did you learn about people  being a waitress?

REP. JACKY ROSEN (D), NEVADA: Well, I will tell, you really learn how to  listen, and you learn how to make sure that they have the best experience.

So, in the same way that you do with politics, you meet people where they  are. And you try to make sure that they enjoy what they`re doing.

MATTHEWS: So, you look forward to the job of a United States senator,  where every time somebody calls you up, the local -- any mayor, any chief  engineer, says, Senator, we need to get some work on this, I`m coming to  Washington, I will spend the whole week with you, we will have dinner,  we`re going to able to work together, and you`re up for that kind of job?

ROSEN: Absolutely.

You know what? The best way to start is having a meal, absolutely.  That`s…

MATTHEWS: OK.

Let me ask you about this preexisting condition. I`m diabetic. I care  about this stuff. And here`s the question.
The Republicans say they got a preexisting condition provision. They don`t  even have a bill. They don`t even have a program. How can they have a  preexisting -- there`s no Republican health care plan. What -- how do they  get away with this?

ROSEN: There`s absolutely no plan.

And Senator Heller, who is my opponent, he voted to repeal the Affordable  Care Act, slashing protections for preexisting conditions, put his name on  the Graham-Cassidy-Heller bill. And now he`s signed up for these junk  plans, which say maybe you can go to the doctor, but they can tell you  what`s wrong with you, but you`re not going to be covered for your  lifesaving treatment or your medication.

They have shown these plans to be junk, to be a sham, and they`re pressing  forward on it anyway.

MATTHEWS: Speaking of safety, on this Strip, a year ago, 50 people were  killed, 500 were injured by a guy using -- up in one of these high windows  here from a hotel, shooting down with a bump stock.

Where is -- where are you and your opponent on gun safety?

ROSEN: Well, I can tell you, we couldn`t be further apart, because everyone here in Las Vegas, throughout the state of Nevada, understands fully that you can protect your Second Amendment rights and have 
commonsense gun safety.

There were 20,000 -- over 20,000 people out there on a warm summer -- look  how beautiful -- warm summer night…

MATTHEWS: I love it here.

ROSEN: … just like this, at a concert, innocent, somebody up there with  a bump stock that should be illegal shooting at them like they`re just fish  in a barrel.

That should never happen. And people really understand that we can protect  your Second Amendment rights and protect public health and safety.

MATTHEWS: President Trump is putting all his marbles in this election  against you and everybody who is a Democrat on the argument that he`s going  to put the Army down there on the border. He`s going to seal off the  border with the Army.

Now, everybody knows the Army can`t do anything like that. They don`t have  the legitimacy to shoot some -- and, by the way, his -- one of his agency  people said, well, we won`t shoot them right now.
What do you make of this sort of militarization of our border situation?

ROSEN: Because President Trump, if he were a real leader, and if Dean Heller were able to stand up to him, what he would want to do is bring people to the table to have comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform, 
one that uses smart security to protect our borders.

We don`t want criminals coming here. We don`t want drug traffickers, human  trafficking. But we need to have an immigration policy that protects our  dreamers, allows people to come here and work, and has a pathway to  citizenship.

If he were a real leader, that`s what he would be doing.

MATTHEWS: What do you make of -- well, here`s your shot. What do you make  of our Heller as a senator?
If we get six more years of him here, what will it be?

ROSEN: Disappointment, absolutely.

I will tell you, as I travel around the state, the number one thing I hear  about Dean Heller is: disappointing. He`s been in public life. He is a  career politician. He`s been here 30 years in public life. And he was 99  percent against Trump. Now he`s 110 percent for Trump.

He thinks his entire job is praising and pleasing the president, voting 96  percent of the time with him. So people who know him in Nevada, they feel  disappointed by his lack of leadership, his lack of independence for the  Battle Born State. It`s Nevada -- you`re here on Nevada Day.

And we want people to stand up.

MATTHEWS: Speaking of Nevada…

ROSEN: That`s right.

MATTHEWS: … let`s -- my friends and I are always using "Godfather"  language, because there`s always a line in "The Godfather."

(LAUGHTER)

MATTHEWS: And one of them is about Fredo. He`s weak. He`s my brother,  but he`s weak. Is Heller weak?

ROSEN: Heller is absolutely weak, because he won`t stand up for himself.

Who he was…

MATTHEWS: I thought he hated Trump.

ROSEN: Well, that`s what he used to say. It`s not what he says now.

Last week, when we started early voting, he had a rally with President  Trump and said, of course, President Trump, everything you touch turns to  gold.

He thinks his entire job is pleasing the president, so he won`t get his  ire.

MATTHEWS: What is it about Vegas where any Republican who has a problem  with Trump comes out here, and then they bow down and genuflect to him?

You remember Mitt Romney? He was out of here bowing and scraping to the  guy. And now you got Heller doing the same.

Is it -- is it the casino business? What is it in the water that makes  people so pathetic?

ROSEN: You know, I`m not sure if it`s Las Vegas.

But I can tell you this. It is absolutely fear. The fear of losing their  seat is greater than their desire to do the right thing.

MATTHEWS: Speaking of which, you have got the guts to come out and run for  the United States Senate when you have a safe House seat.

ROSEN: Well, I don`t have a safe House seat. I have a 50/50 district.

MATTHEWS: Well, you gave it up.

ROSEN: So, it`s always a fight.

MATTHEWS: Why do you give up a House to get a Senate seat, when it`s  always a bigger risk?

ROSEN: Because you know what? The dignity and decency of our democracy is  at stake.

And, as I go around the state, and I realize, as I listened to story after  story from women in the MeToo movement, from our LGBTQ community, from  people with children with preexisting conditions or themselves with  preexisting conditions, as I hear those stories, I know every single day  who I`m fighting for and what I`m fighting for.

And as they tell me those stories, they say, don`t forget us.

MATTHEWS: Congresswoman Jacky Rosen.

ROSEN: Thank you.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source