CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Interview With Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)

Interview

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BALDWIN: Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth represents the state of Illinois and is a member of the Armed Services Committee.

Senator Duckworth, a pleasure. Welcome.

[15:20:01]

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): Thanks for having me on.

BALDWIN: In addition to those comments we just played, the president has refused to acknowledge that Russia is currently interfering with the 2020 election.

Your reaction, Senator Duckworth?

DUCKWORTH: Well, it's just continuing what he does all the time, which is refuse to listen to his own intelligence community and his intelligence experts.

The intelligence community, independent experts and a bipartisan group of senators and congress men and women have time and again shown that the Russians interfered in our 2016 elections. They attempted to interfere in the 2018 elections. And we know that they're trying to interfere in the 2020 elections.

And for the president to deny this means that he's putting our elections in jeopardy, because we need to be preparing ourselves and fighting back against the Russians, not denying that it never happened, because it is happening, whether he likes it or not.

BALDWIN: And then just for Americans who are obviously concerned about their votes when they hear this, what are you hearing, just as a senator, about what's being done to stop this, because we are just a week away from Super Tuesday?

DUCKWORTH: We are.

So let me tell you that, in Illinois, we were the state that the Russians attacked first in 2016. They actually downloaded our entire voter file of every voter in the state of Illinois.

And one of the things that we have done is made sure that every single voting machine has a paper backup. And that's what I encourage all states to do, that, if you're using a voting machine, you have a paper backup. And when you go to cast your vote, you look at that paper backup. That is an incontrovertible record of the vote that you have cast.

That is the most basic thing that we can do to prevent Russia's interference at the polling booth. This does not even talk about what they're trying to do in social media with bots sending out false information, with voter suppressions, telling people not to vote, to go vote at the wrong location on the wrong date.

So, we really do need to push back against them, and we need to empower our intelligence community to do their jobs and do that.

BALDWIN: Let me turn the page and ask about something else the president said during this news conference. Here he was.

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TRUMP: Yes, I don't think it's a big problem. I don't think it's very many people.

I think we had a whistle-blower who was a fake, because, if you look at the whistle-blower, as an example, if you look at his report, and then you compare that to the transcripts, it bore no relationship.

So that was a very sad situation and a lot of time, a lot of time wasted. We want to have people that are good for the country, are loyal to our country, because that was a disgraceful situation.

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BALDWIN: He was asked about the purge of officials, right, around him. And I'm wondering, what do you think he meant by that?

DUCKWORTH: I have no idea what this president's talking about.

If you look at the whistle-blower's report, and you look at the transcript that the White House itself issued, you know that they are very, very consistent with one another. And that transcript is not an actual transcript, by the way. It's edited.

So, there's a full transcript out there that the White House refuses to issue. If you look at it, they're very much similar.

This president is time and again attacking civil servants, attacking people, and feels that he can do whatever he wants. I mean, after all, he just recently said that he's the one who sent Rudy Giuliani to the Ukraine to go dig up whatever dirt he could.

You know, after his impeachment, he then came out and said, oh, after all, yes, I did send Rudy Giuliani.

The impeachment acquittal vote really has allowed this president to move forward and retaliate against people, to continue to be out of control. And, really, this is not to the benefit of the American people.

BALDWIN: Another concern of the American people, the coronavirus.

The CDC was sounding the alarm just today, saying that it will -- there will be more cases, that it will spread here in the United States.

And I know you were briefed on the coronavirus this morning. What were you told? And, really, the question everyone's wondering is, are we ready?

DUCKWORTH: Well, I'm deeply concerned that we may not be ready.

The problem is tracking all these individuals. And, in fact, when I served in the military, one of the things that I did was actually give presentations and discussions on pandemics, global pandemics when I was in the Army Reserves towards the end of my military career.

And so we have to have better coordination between the CDC and civilian authorities.

In Illinois, we had two individuals, one woman, and then she transferred it to her husband. And that was the best-case scenario of how it could be handled, and we were able to isolate both people right away and stop the spread.

But this is an issue that's not yet at the tipping point, and this could really spread into a global pandemic. It's not there yet, but we have to be ever vigilant.

And I'm not sure that we have enough linkages between the CDC, for example. Just to get tested and get test results can take a whole week, and that's too long to have to wait to find out whether or not someone is positive.

BALDWIN: Appreciate you raising the flag. This is definitely one of those stories. Everyone -- they're concerned, and understandably.

Senator Tammy Duckworth, thank you so much. Great to have you on.

DUCKWORTH: Thank you. Thank you.

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