MSNBC "Hardball" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Interview

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MATTHEWS:  Welcome back to HARDBALL.  Elizabeth Warren seems to get under President Trump`s skin like no other candidate in the race.  Senator Warren was the first major democrat to jump in to the 2020 contest to replace Donald Trump.  She`s also pushed some of the boldest and most progressive policies of anyone in the field, including a wealth tax for the richest American families, Medicare for all, breaking up big tech companies, like Amazon and Facebook.  She has just announced a plan to break up some of the country`s largest corporate agricultural business as well, writing corporate consolidations that`s choking family farms.
 
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts joins us right now.  Thank you so much.  I`ve got to get to some of the news and then we`ll get to agriculture.  The first big news stories, 300 -page Mueller report.  Should that be subpoenaed by the Congress?
 
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), M.A.:  Look, the report needs to be made public.  Congress can subpoena and however we do it, the report needs to be made public.  That`s all there is to say.
 
MATTHEWS:  Okay.  Apart from the legalities, which Mr. Mueller engaged in investigating, let`s talk about the whole picture of guide here over the last couple of years of Trump and the Russians.  Do you believe, looking at all that you`ve seen in the last couple of years, was he playing ball with Putin?
 
WARREN:  You know, it`s crazy for us to be talking about that though without the Mueller report in front of us.  The whole point is here`s this 300-page report, a 22-month investigation, $25 million, put the report out there, put it with the rest of the information we have and then we`ll all have a better idea.
 
The idea that somehow we`re going to hide this thing, no.  Just put the information out there.  If, as the Attorney General says, the conclusions have been drawn, there`s nothing to hide, then what`s the problem letting the American people see it?
 
MATTHEWS:  Well, based upon all we have seen though in the public light, things like the meeting at the Trump Tower to get dirt on Hillary Clinton, the call by the President as a candidate to get dirt, to get the emails from Russia, all the meetings, all that, does that suggest to you there was a back and forth going on, but Putin wanted to help (sic) Hillary, Trump wanted to help him do that?
 
WARREN:  Look, it looks like pieces in the puzzle. 
 
But, like I said, you need the Mueller report.  You need all of the pieces.  Lay it out in front of us.  Let the American people see it all.  There should be nothing hidden here. 
 
MATTHEWS:  Let`s talk about a big one.  You`re going after the big corporations.  You`re very much a Teddy Roosevelt trustbuster, if you will. 
 
WARREN:  Yes, my favorite president. 
 
(CROSSTALK)
 
MATTHEWS:  By the way, a good Republican.
 
Well, that makes sense.  You`re going after agriculture. 
 
WARREN:  Yes. 
 
MATTHEWS:  Tell me how big agribusiness hurts the small farmer, which is of lure in this country, the small farmer.  We all love that small person out there, the family out on the plains.  We love them.  How`s this hurt them? 
 
WARREN:  So, understand, a generation ago, 37 cents out of every food dollar went into the farmer`s pocket.  Today, it`s 15 cents out of every food dollar. 
 
So what`s happened to the rest of it?  It`s that a handful of giant corporations have figured out how to grow bigger, how to take more of the profits for themselves, how to cut out the competition, and how to put the squeeze on small and medium-sized farms. 
 
They have done it through mergers, which I have opposed, like the Monsanto- Bayer merger, which now is going to reduce the number of places that farmers can buy seed from and the variety of seeds that are available.  And you`re going to have less competition in setting the price for those seeds. 
 
It also works in terms of vertical integration.  So, right now, in the poultry industry, for example, Perdue and other big producers have figured out they will run every bit from fertilizing the eggs all the way to the end in getting the chickens slaughtered and packed up.  They figured out which parts are profitable, and they take those for the giant corporations. 
 
And they leave the farmers something called contract farming, where all of the risk is on the farmers, and the ability to make profits has been squeezed almost to nothing. 
 
Family farms are important.  Medium-sized farms are important.  Competition in farming is important.  But the only way we do that is if we have enforcement of the antitrust laws. 
 
(CROSSTALK)
 
WARREN:  You know, for me, Chris, this is the same issue I keep talking about.  Washington works great for giant corporations.  Just not working for anybody else. 
 
MATTHEWS:  Maybe this is why Trump, the president, is afraid of you the most, because he gives you nicknames, he chases after you.  He was doing it again last night, because you have drawn a line.
 
You are for the market. 
 
WARREN:  Yes. 
 
MATTHEWS:  But you want the market to be refined in the public interest.  You`re not happy with the word socialist.  Tell me about that distinction. 
 
You had lunch today with a very major figure now in the Democratic Party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.  What would be the difference between you and the way that she very comfortably accepts the term socialist, Democratic socialist -- or socialist Democrat?
 
(CROSSTALK)
 
WARREN:  What we actually talked about today are the things where we think we need to make big change in this country.
 
This wasn`t, for us, about a conversation about political labels.  It was a conversation about how we make this country work better, not just for a thin slice at the top, how we make it work for everyone.  And that`s true when we`re talking about child care, when we`re talking about a wealth tax, when we`re talking about an America that right now is working great for the rich and the powerful. 
 
It`s working great for those who can hire armies of lobbyists and lawyers.  But this is our moment, our chance to be bold, our chance to say that we can truly, from the grassroots up, build a movement that makes markets, makes this country work better for everyone. 
 
It`s not that hard.  We pass a wealth tax -- just to pick that one -- 2 percent on the biggest fortunes in this country, and you know what we can do?  We can do universal child care, universal pre-K, zero to 5, all our kids, and still have $2 trillion left over, money to reduce the student loan debt burden, money to put into housing, money that we can use as a down payment on a green deal.
 
That`s how we build a future, not just for those at the top, but build a future for everyone.
 
MATTHEWS:  Are you looking forward to a debate like this with the president, with Donald Trump?
 
WARREN:  Oh, yes.
 
MATTHEWS:  This very debate?
 
WARREN:  Oh, yes.  Oh, yes.  You bet.  Yes.
 
People across this country get it.  They understand what`s not working for them.  I see this.  I have now done 40-plus town halls, fenced with people.  I have taken nearly 200 open, public questions.  I have done long selfie lines.
 
MATTHEWS:  Yes. 
 
WARREN:  People understand what`s not working in this country, and they are fired up and ready to make change. 
 
And the way we do that is, we point out what`s wrong, exactly what`s broken.  Let`s be specific about it, where big corporations are squeezing people.  This is how we fix it.  And this is how we`re building the grassroots movement to make that happen. 
 
MATTHEWS:  Well, at least he`s not calling you pencil neck.  He seems to be afraid of you.
 
(LAUGHTER)
 
MATTHEWS:  Anyway, thank you.  You know what I`m talking about.  Thank you very much, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. 

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