CNN "CNN Newsroom" - Transcript: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) Discusses Trump Proposals to Help Those Affected by Coronavirus & Coronavirus Outbreaks

Interview

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BALDWIN: But any kind of stimulus may be a hard sell on Capitol Hill for Democrats as well as Trump Republicans, some of whom say the move could be premature.

With me now, Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth, of Illinois. She's an Iraq War veteran, Purple Heart recipient and also a member of the Armed Services and Small Business Committees.

So Senator Duckworth, welcome back.

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): Thanks. It's good to be on.

BALDWIN: We know several proposals are being contemplated, a paid sick leave, paid tax cut, deferred tax collection from industries. I know you know a lot about small business, making small business loans more available. Which would you support?

DUCKWORTH: Well, I think, long term, we should consider all of them. But in the short term, what we need to do is take care of the individual worker first. I would like us to streamline of the ability to apply for unemployment insurance.

You know, a payroll tax cut doesn't do much in the short term if you're not getting a paycheck. We need more hourly workers and people who will be told to stay home, to get some help. There's in the law, the ability to get unemployment in the short term because they can't get to their job through no fault of their own. We need to streamline that process.

[14:40:08]

Then, of course, we need to definitely look at paid family leave. I've been talking about this for years now. So people can afford to stay home and take care of family members.

BALDWIN: You know this, just economic fallout, Senator. Just want to ask that, the coronavirus spread in the U.S., on testing, and whether officials have a handle on how many people.

I want you to listen to what Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told CNN this morning.

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ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We don't know exactly how many, because hundreds of thousands of tests have gone out to private labs and hospitals that currently do not report into CDC.

We're working with the CDC and those partners to get an I.T. reporting system up and running, hopefully, this week, where we would be able to get that data to and keep track of how many we're testing.

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BALDWIN: So bottom line, Senator Duckworth, the CDC chief today says the agent has tested nearly 5,000 people in public health labs. That doesn't seem to include private or clinical labs. You heard Secretary Azar saying, well, we don't totally know. Your reaction to that?

DUCKWORTH: Well, the administration has absolutely botched this.

Let's compare it to the case of South Korea. Within the first week of the first case that appeared in South Korea, they had tested 66,000 individuals. South Korea, a country far smaller than ours, has managed to test over 140,000. And the other countries that responded quickly with test kits widely dispersed on the way down.

The United States, we're far richer, a more powerful nation, our trending is in the opposite direction. Because this administration has failed to response.

My own home state we came up with our own testing and begin the protocols ourselves. If we waited for the Health and Human Services or the CDC, we would have been in far worse trouble than we are right now.

BALDWIN: If, in your words, the administration botched, what do we do about it? Tom Bossert was President Trump's Homeland Security adviser and wrote this op-ed in the "Washington Post," and he talked about being pretty aggressive. Get proof of human-to-human transmission in a community. And moments ago, the governor of New York announced the National Guard would be deployed to an area in New Rochelle here in New York to help with logistics in a containment area. And schools would be closed for two weeks starting Thursday.

My question to you, Senator, just how aggressive do you think the rest of the condition should be?

DUCKWORTH: We should be very aggressive in getting the test kits out.

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BALDWIN: What about other than the test kits?

DUCKWORTH: We don't know where the people are that have this. We need to get everybody tested at this point.

The Trump administration is saying 75,000 kits? We have to get these people tested everywhere. And, yes, we need to get folks to be able to stay home and self-quarantine. We've got to make sure the kids are not passing the virus around.

And make sure the test kits need to be free. If you're told there's a two-month wait for a test kit through Medicare and Medicaid, but if you want to be tested, it's $200 or $500, you're not going to it is tested, especially if you're making minimum wage. Let's make them free so people know if they're positive.

Then allow the scientists and public health officials to tell us what to do. That's who I want to listen to. Follow their advice for a change.

BALDWIN: You talked about Illinois. You've had to be proactive in creating these tests. We know Illinois has declared a state of emergency on coronavirus with 11 cases.

But what about you? Just as a sitting U.S. Senator in Washington, are you personally concerned about your own travel back and forth?

DUCKWORTH: Well, of course, I am. My family as well. My mom lives with us. She's in her late 70s. I'm concerned about her as well.

I am, in my family, following the guidance of doctors and scientists on what to do. We're washing our hands, sanitizing, making sure we maintain social distancing when we're in group settings, all of those things that scientists tell us to do.

We're going to watch each other closely. As soon as anyone shows symptoms, we'll make sure they get tested.

BALDWIN: Last question: Do you think these 2020 candidates, including the president, should be holding campaign rallies?

DUCKWORTH: That's up to them. We should let the doctors and scientists tell us. If the doctors say it's not a good thing, follow their advice. First, let's let science come to the forefront. Let's talk about the safety of American people first. And we'll worry about politics and campaigning later.

BALDWIN: Senator Tammy Duckworth, stay well. Thank you very much.

DUCKWORTH: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

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