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

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

As top 2020 candidates target the uber-rich, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is now considering jumping into the race. He's apparently concerned about the strength of the current field of Democrats.

Joining me now to discuss, Senator Amy Klobuchar, who has now qualified for the next two Democratic debates. She's also a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senator Klobuchar, thanks so much. Congratulations on making the debate stage.

We have a lot to get to.

KLOBUCHAR: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: I want to ask you about impeachment.

House Republicans are asking to call many of their own witnesses, including Hunter Biden, to testify in the impeachment probe. Would you be OK with Hunter Biden testifying?

KLOBUCHAR: Adam Schiff has said this best, and that is, that's what this is all about, which was a sham investigation that the president was trying to push.

And, for now, the House is simply gathering relevant evidence about what the president did. That is what this is about.

I note they also want to try to get the whistle-blower to testify, when, in fact, all sources tell us that what the whistle-blower said was secondhand information, and they now have firsthand information of diplomats, military people, others that actually heard these actions occur where the president was pushing for Ukraine to start an investigation against his political opponents in exchange for military assistance.

That is what all of this mounting evidence is showing. And that is why I would agree with Adam Schiff. Why would you reveal the whistle- blower, when you're supposed to have protections, which Republican Senator Grassley has vehemently argued for, protections for this whistle-blower?

TAPPER: So that's a no on Hunter Biden?

KLOBUCHAR: I see no reason why you would have Hunter Biden testify,when, from what all the reports that we have seen is, this wasn't a valid investigation.

It was something where the president was messing around to try to get information against a political opponent.

TAPPER: Let's turn to the latest in the 2020 race.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg filed to run in the 2020 primary election in Alabama, the first state with a filing deadline. The mayor seems to be concerned, according to his aides, that Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are too liberal to beat Trump and that the moderate candidates, such as yourself, are not strong enough to win the nomination.

Is his analysis incorrect?

KLOBUCHAR: Yes, very incorrect. First of all, I'm gaining momentum all the time. We're doubling our

offices in Iowa. We got an extraordinary amount of help after that last debate, raising $2.1 million at AmyKlobuchar.com in just six days.

And so we are building an operation that can win. And I have the most endorsements of anyone in Iowa, of any of the candidates.

Stepping back to this assertion from his spokesperson, I have seen a lot of excitement about all of our candidates. I think all of them have served our country in one way or another.

And when people look at the White House, and they see this multimillionaire, including, by the way, independents, moderate Republicans, and how he's messing up so many things, I don't think they say, oh, we need someone richer.

I don't think that, Jake. I think you have to earn votes, and not buy them.

And I certainly welcome Mayor Bloomberg to the race. He has done incredible work on gun safety, on environmental issues. And it is work of merit.

But I don't think you just waltz in and say, instead of, well, I'm good enough to be president, your argument is, the other people aren't good enough.

That is not how we have been conducting these debates. We're having legitimate debates about who is the strongest person. I think I have the strongest argument, being from the heartland, the place that we need to win, being the one that has won every red and purple congressional district over and over again, and someone who can govern from strength, and someone who's gotten through the gridlock of Washington.

TAPPER: Mm-hmm.

KLOBUCHAR: I'm looking forward to debating Mayor Bloomberg about that, but not if he just comes in and his whole purpose is to say the rest of the field isn't good enough.

TAPPER: Two new recent polls have shown that the moderate candidate who appears to be breaking into the top tier in Iowa is actually South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

Recent comments in "The New York Times" suggest that you don't believe that Mayor Buttigieg is qualified to be the president. Am I reading that wrong?

KLOBUCHAR: Yes.

I don't think I want to dwell on various press articles, but I will say this. I think any of the candidates that were on that debate stage were more qualified than the president of the United States right now. So, let me make that clear. TAPPER: Well, more qualified, more qualified than Trump.

KLOBUCHAR: I like Mayor Pete, but...

TAPPER: But do you think...

KLOBUCHAR: Yes.

TAPPER: Do you think Buttigieg is qualified, period?

KLOBUCHAR: Yes.

TAPPER: OK.

KLOBUCHAR: But let me explain why I think I am the better candidate.

And, by the way, we get asked this all the time. Welcome to politics. And that's what was in that article. Various candidates get asked about each other all the time. And I made what I think was a cogent case.

And that is that I'm the one from the Midwest that's actually won in a statewide race over and over again, including bringing in those voters that just voted in Kentucky, those kind of voters, just voted in Virginia, brought them over the edge, so that we had strong leaders that were able to win those elections.

[09:25:17]

Those are the kind of voters I have won. And that's not true of Mayor Pete. That's just a fact.

TAPPER: Right.

KLOBUCHAR: I also am someone that has passed multiple bills as the lead Democrat, important bills in Washington, D.C. He's had a different experience.

We should be able to have those debates about candidates without being accused of being negative. All this is are, questions were asked.

And the last point I made in that article was that, of the women on the stage -- I'm focusing here on my fellow women senators, Senator Harris, Senator Warren and myself. Do I think that we would be standing on that stage if we had the experience that he had? No, I don't. Maybe we're held to a different standard.

But my goal here is to get the best candidate to lead the ticket. I believe that's me. That is why I have been able to attract the kind of support that I have in the early states. And I am doing this the right way, running a grassroots campaign.

TAPPER: Senator, your 2020 opponents former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Elizabeth Warren are feuding, I think it's fair to say, after Biden said that the way Warren is pushing for Medicare for all is -- quote -- "elitist." Do you agree that the way she pushes her plans and suggests that her plan is the right one and Joe Biden should run in a different primary if he's going to repeat Republican talking points, do you agree that this is elitist?

KLOBUCHAR: OK, let me separate these things.

I don't think Elizabeth Warren is elitist. I don't think that -- that is not the adjective I would use to describe her in any way. I think she's pushing for a policy that I don't agree with, and would kick 149 million Americans off of their health care in just four years, their current health care.

That is a fact. it says it on page eight of the bill of the Sanders- Warren bill.

That being said, I think there's a better way, with one big, bold idea. And that is by having a competitive nonprofit option that can compete with the insurance companies and bring the prices down.

I also think that we need to take on the pharmaceutical companies in a big way, work that I have done with Senator Sanders. And that means bringing in less expensive drugs from other countries. That means allowing and unleashing Medicare to negotiate and getting rid of that prohibition that says they can't. I lead that bill.

And I will get that done as president.

And it also means looking at the House proposal, which is a great one, to put a cap on some of these prices and save taxpayers $350 billion.

TAPPER: Yes.

KLOBUCHAR: Those are bold ideas, Jake. And there's no monopoly on good ideas.

And that's the point I would make about Senator Warren's and Senator Sanders' proposals. I would not call them elitist.

TAPPER: Warren and Sanders aren't here, but they would say those individuals would be kicked off private insurance, but then would be covered by the government health care, Medicare for all.

Thank you so much, Senator Klobuchar. We appreciate your time, as always.

KLOBUCHAR: It was great to be on. Thanks, Jake.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source