CNN "State of the Union" - Transcript: Interview with Sen. Amy Klobuchar

Interview

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TAPPER: Hello. I'm Jake Tapper in Washington, where the state of our union is seeing double.

President Trump is in Washington this morning dealing with two political realities.

On the domestic front, the president and the U.S. got excellent economic news Friday. Unemployment hit 3.6 percent. That's the lowest since 1969. But President Trump remains quite unpopular with the American people at large.

And on the world stage, he's on defense over his relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un after North Korea launched multiple test missiles on Saturday.

The president is also facing criticism over an hour-long phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which the president says he discussed the Mueller report, but not Russian election interference. And the president contradicted his top foreign policy officials by restating Putin's claim that Russia is not involved in Venezuela as if it's a fact.

All of this is setting up a difficult dynamic for Democrats, as they take on the president in 2020. Is it the economy, stupid, as the old James Carville trope goes? Or, in the era of Trump, will the election be decided on other factors?

This morning, we're going to bring to you two exclusive interviews with 2020 Democratic presidential candidates.

We went to Newark, New Jersey, for a special sit-down with Senator Cory Booker in his home city and state.

But I want to begin with 2020 presidential candidate and Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, joining me now from her home state of Minnesota.

Senator Klobuchar, let's start with the strong economic news out on Friday. The economy added more than a quarter-million jobs, better than economists expected. Unemployment is at its lowest level in almost 50 years. Wages grew faster than prices did.

Do you give President Trump the credit?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I give our workers and our businesses the credit, Jake.

When you're out there across the country, you see people working harder and harder every day. And this has meant that we are -- our businesses are strong, and we're selling American goods.

That being said, a lot of people aren't sharing in this prosperity because of the costs, the cost of college, the cost of health care, the fact that the president had promised that he would bring down the prices of their prescription drugs, and that just hasn't happened.

So, when you get out there and you see the energy out there and the concern, talk to farmers who are trying to sell their soybeans. There are people out there that are not sharing in this economic prosperity. And it's not fair. And it's not the American way.

So, while we attribute a lot of this to our workers and to our businesses, we know we can do better as a country.

TAPPER: Unemployment is the lowest it's been since I was nine months old. You're really not going to give President Trump any credit for that in terms of his tax cuts or deregulation or anything he's done?

KLOBUCHAR: You know what I'm thinking about. I'm thinking about, when we were in that downturn, and President Obama came into office, and he had to deal with that, with the Congress, to try to, one, right the financial industry, and then, two, get us on the road to recovery.

And I remember that the Republicans were giving him grief when he took any credit for that. So, I think that we have had policies in place, starting with President Obama, that have aided that recovery.

But what I believe is that we should be governing from opportunity and not chaos. And my problem with President Trump, and I think the problem you're seeing from the citizens of this country when you mention those numbers and what's happening is, they see chaos every day.

They wake up in the morning, and they see a mean tweet, or they see some inconsistent policy that causes chaos during the day. They want to have a leader that their kids can look up to.

TAPPER: North Korea test-fired multiple projectiles this weekend. Here's how the president responded on Twitter -- quote -- "Anything in this very interesting world is possible, but I believe that Kim Jong- un fully realizes the great economic potential of North Korea and will do nothing to interfere or end it. He also knows that I am with him and does not want to break his promise to me. Deal will happen."

[09:05:08]

What do you make of that, Senator? And if you are elected president, would you be willing to meet with Kim Jong-un?

KLOBUCHAR: I would always be willing to meet with leaders to discuss policies.

But my problem with how President Trump has handled this is not that he's had meetings. It's that there isn't a plan and there isn't a real negotiation tactic. And he is not working with our allies as he should.

Maybe he should listen to Otto Warmbier's mother, who just this last week talked about the fact that we should be upping the sanctions and putting more pressure on Kim Jong-un.

I don't see this as a victory that he launched these test missiles. I don't see that as a victory at all. And I also don't believe we should be conducting our foreign policy by tweet. It's a very, very hard thing to do, but you have got to quietly work, and you have got to have summits that produce results where you don't -- just don't fly over, get no result, and come home.

TAPPER: Senator, you said on CNN this week that -- quote -- "We have another presidential election coming up, and this president has every reason not to protect that election" -- unquote.

What do you mean by that? Are you suggesting that President Trump wants foreign election interference in 2020?

KLOBUCHAR: First of all, we have ample evidence that he has not been responding to protect our election security.

And you know what Russia may have done? They didn't use a tank, they didn't use a missile, but they used a computer, and they invaded our democracy all the same.

And, in the past, he's used the word meddle. Well, meddling is what my -- I do when I call my daughter on a Saturday night. This was actually an invasion of our democracy, OK? This isn't asking your kid, oh, what are you doing tonight? This is an invasion of our democracy.

So, when I look at...

TAPPER: But you're saying he wants -- he wants that again?

KLOBUCHAR: I don't know what he wants. All I know is, he's not acting like the leader to protect our national security, because, if he wanted to do that, his administration wouldn't be stopping the Secure Elections Act in its tracks.

They made calls from the White House when my bill with Senator Lankford was headed to the floor. They wanted to stop that bill that would have required to get assistance from the federal government for election equipment. It would have required backup paper ballots.

Multiple states do not have backup paper ballots. It would have required auditing. It would have required better information-sharing. We now know that his own homeland security secretary was told not to talk to him about the threat to this election.

We know that his own FBI director has said that 2018 was a dress rehearsal and that Russia is going to try this again. His director of intelligence said that they're getting bolder.

All of this happens, and what does he do? He goes and coddles up to Vladimir Putin again, has a little nice talk with him, and never even brings this up, according to his own press secretary.

That is wrong. And he then makes it worse by calling it a hoax.

TAPPER: I follow you on Twitter, and I saw...

KLOBUCHAR: I think we need to protect our nation's security.

And, as Martin -- as Marco Rubio said, you know, one time, it was one party, and the next time, it will be the other.

TAPPER: I follow you on Twitter, and I noticed that you said that voters ask you much more about the opioid crisis in this country than they do about Robert Mueller. You have just unveiled a new $100 billion plan to fight drug addiction

and fully fund mental health care. The Trump administration, I should note, has also taken strides in combating opioids, including declaring a public health emergency, signing bipartisan legislation in October. U.S. attorneys are now suing pharmaceuticals.

Do you think the Trump administration deserves any praise for their efforts on this issue?

KLOBUCHAR: They have done some good things, and I have worked with them on that.

But the point is, everywhere I go across this country, I don't think there's been a town hall meeting where someone didn't ask me about mental health or drug addiction.

And, by the way, Jake, it's not just opioids. Ask people who live in our black communities what's going on here. It is also meth. It is also cocaine. All right?

And what is going on here right now is that we have got people that don't know where to go for help. One out of two Americans have addiction in their family or with their close friends. One out of five Americans have a mental health problem.

And, for me, this is personal. My own dad struggled with alcoholism my whole life growing up. He got two DWIs in the '70s, and nothing happened. By the '90s, he was facing a choice of jail or treatment. He chose treatment. And, in his own words, he was pursued by grace.

And that was because of his faith, and that was because of treatment and our family and his friends. And so I think every American should have that right to be pursued by grace.

That means enough beds in this country for people with mental health problems if they're facing a crisis. That means doing something about our mounting suicide rate for farmers, for veterans, for LGBTQ youth.

And that means, instead of just talking about this, actually putting the money into treatment.

[09:10:16]

And I have a proposal that's paid for by, yes, 2 cents-per-milligram fee on these opioid pharma companies that have made tons of money off the backs of people who got addicted. And you can use that money for not just opioids. You can also use it for these other drugs, as well as mental health.

It means making sure, on the road to recovery, that you have got a job and you have got a place to live. And there are so many people in this country that are crying out for help. And we have made this transition away from the mental health institutions for good reasons.

But then we didn't replace it with anything. And I also have a background from the criminal justice system. And I can -- I know what happens when people don't get help.

TAPPER: Lastly, Senator -- and, quickly, if you can -- the front- runner in your 2020 primary race, former Vice President Joe Biden, hit the trail in South Carolina for the first time this weekend.

Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are already pointing to major policy differences they have with the vice president. Where have you disagreed with Joe Biden?

KLOBUCHAR: I'm looking forward to the debates to talk about that. I think he's just launched his campaign.

But I can tell you where I'm coming from, Jake. I am someone who's running from the heartland. I'm someone who is taking on the issues of our time, whether it is the infrastructure proposal I put out there. I was the first candidate to put out a fully-paid-for infrastructure proposal.

I'm someone that is taking on this mental health and addiction issue. And I have been fighting on farmer prices my whole life. So, I'm looking forward to the debates with all of the candidates, and so we can air out our differences. And I think you're going to find also that there's a lot more that unites the Democrats that are running than divides us.

The key is that we need a leader in the White House -- and I believe I am that person -- who can unite this country, who can bring us to a better place in our politics, and start governing from opportunity, instead of chaos.

TAPPER: Senator Amy Klobuchar from the Land of 10,000 Lakes, thank you so much. Appreciate your time this morning.

KLOBUCHAR: Thank you, Jake. It's great to be on.

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