CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview With Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) On Bernie Sanders' Campaign Against Joe Biden For Democratic Presidential Nomination

Interview

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Joining me right now to discuss, California Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna. Good to see you, congressman, also as co-chair of the Sanders

campaign, glad you could be with us. So are you at all --

REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. Are you at all surprised, Congressman, that Warren has not immediately endorsed Sanders given their relationship and similar agendas?

KHANNA: I am not. I mean she just ran for president in a very difficult campaign for a year. I think we need to give her some space to make a decision. And frankly, I think it's incumbent on the Sanders campaign to earn the trust of her supporters. We need to make the case that Medicare for all, free public college, universal child care, are policies that Senator Warren has championed and that senator Sanders is championing, and that's why we deserve to earn those votes.

WHITFIELD: But she knows him. They were campaigning simultaneously, and they know each other long before that, and look how quickly Buttigieg and Klobuchar endorsed Biden. So what's to think about, do you think, for Warren?

KHANNA: Well, I think she has been a lion and giant in the Senate on so many progressive issues. She really was the intellectual leader on many of the policy proposals. She has a relationship with Vice President Biden as well, going back to Vice President Biden's service. So it's not for me to speculate what she should do. It's her decision. I think she's earned that right. I think we have to respect her in whatever decision she makes, and we ought to try to focus on the voters in making that case to the voters.

WHITFIELD: Sure. You also want to focus, I guess, on some of her supporters. Do you read into her quote to "The Boston Globe," where she kind of inferred that maybe she's not going to endorse? She says "Why would I owe anybody an endorsement? Is that a question they ask everybody else who dropped out of this race?" How disappointing would it be to you and the Sanders camp if this fellow progressive does not back Sanders?

KHANNA: Well, frankly, I agree with Senator Warren. Why does she owe anyone an endorsement? She was the person putting a lot of the policy plans. She faced, frankly, a lot of sexism in the campaign on issues of electability.

WHITFIELD: But don't her supporters want to know or get some kind of directive from her, perhaps, since there have been so many loyal supporters at all of her events, making donations. Aren't they curious about who she would endorse?

KHANNA: I've talked to a lot of Warren, many of whom who are considering Senator Sanders. What they want to know is where Senator Sanders stands, what is he going to do to earn their trust and earn their votes.

And I think what they'd rather is that we focus on our vision for America, convincing them that we are going to be strong on progressive policies and get things done in effective governance than focusing on what Senator Warren is going to do. I think it would totally backfire to try to pressure Senator Warren into doing anything in terms of endorsing right now when she has just run a remarkable race and deserves the right to make her own decisions on her own timetable.

WHITFIELD: OK, the other candidates, still in the race, Joe Biden, former vice president, he's warning against negativity that could be coming from the so-called Bernie bros, he called them Bernie brothers, but he says it could lead to a real bloodbath. So what do you make of his comments that he's trying to encourage everyone to stay away from being negative?

KHANNA: So are we. Senator Sanders has said that any comments online that are demeaning or that are brow-beating are absolutely unacceptable. But we also have to look at the comments and attacks on people like Senator Turner. Just the other day, there was a surrogate who was attacking Senator Turner, saying Senator Turner didn't have the standing to quote Dr. King, and ended up apologizing for that. So I think all sides have to elevate the discourse and live up to the highest standards.

WHITFIELD: OK, while I have you, California congressman, let me ask you about coronavirus. Thousands of people on board the Grand Princess cruise ship are in limbo after 21 people tested positive for the virus.

[14:40:08]

You're from the Bay Area. This cruise ship was scheduled to return to San Francisco this morning. That's your district. But President Trump says passengers on board should stay there. What are you hearing about the situation, and how concerned are you?

KHANNA: I'm concerned. I want to make sure that any passenger stays through the quarantine until we are sure that they are not infected. I think that is, that makes sense. But I think the biggest concern here is that we got -- we have to get the testing out. I don't understand how South Korea has already tested 100,000 people and we are at about 500 people. Why is our administration not being able to get tests out so that people can get tested is really incompetence, and that's what we ought to be focused on.

WHITFIELD: Congressman Ro Khanna, good to see you, thank you so much.

KHANNA: Thank you, appreciate it.

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