CNN "Erin Burnett Outfront" - Transcript: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) is Interviewed About the Iowa Caucuses and the Bernie Sanders Campaign

Interview

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OUTFRONT now, Democratic Congressman Pramila Jayapal. She's endorsed Bernie Sanders for president.

And I appreciate your time as always.

So, right now, the numbers we have, 62 percent in. So, obviously, 38 percent still to go. Sanders is in second at 25.1 percent of the vote.

Will you accept the results, if the margin remains this tight? Buttigieg right now only at 26.9. Well, that is incredibly tight. Will you accept those results if that's how tight it is, with Buttigieg as winner?

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): Well, I think, all I know is what I saw in Iowa and what I see in the numbers which is that Bernie Sanders is incredibly popular. He is winning the raw vote. I saw across Iowa, I kind of barnstormed Iowa. I was in some parts of rural Iowa, you know, in a little rural town and there's 100 people down in a dark basement ready to go campaign for him. The enthusiasm from young voters, from folks of color, people who traditionally have not participated in democracy, I think, was really encouraging.

And so I remain confident that Bernie Sanders will pull it out in the end.

[19:35:04]

And I just think it's a real shame that we are still waiting because, obviously, the momentum from Iowa matters to New Hampshire.

BURNETT: And, you know, on this issue of how well Sanders is doing in the popular vote, obviously, up there, I mean, delegates is what determines the winner of the state. But he is up on popular vote right now. I want to look at the map, again, though, Congresswoman, just to get your reaction to this.

When you see the counties Buttigieg is winning, you can see now in the pale green which dominates the state of Iowa, then let's look at the ones Sanders is winning in blue. Obviously, you got a lot of people in those. But when you lock at breadth across the state, Buttigieg so far is dominating. I mean, there's no other way to put it when you look at those colors.

JAYAPAL: Well, I think one of the things we have to remember, and I love Iowa, but Iowa doesn't necessarily represent everywhere else in the country. We have an enormous number of base voters, young voters, folks of color, who I think this is a turning point for the Democratic Party.

We have to decide if we are going to engage and inspire those people so that we can bring them into the system and make the kinds of structural reforms that Bernie Sanders is pushing. And I think that it is very important that we don't forget that at the end of the day, the Democratic Party base is critically important. We cannot take them for granted. We have to expand the electorate, if we are going to make this country work for people again, Erin.

BURNETT: So, I want to ask you. I know, obviously, you're hoping he comes out on top. You're a very measured person. But the president's team has been trying to push a narrative that the caucus is rigged, right?

Eric Trump tweeted, "mark my words, they're rigging this thing. What a mess."

And Senator Sanders, himself, as used that word many times, "rigged," in reference to the 2016 primary being rigged against him. Just the other day, his senior adviser, Jeff Weaver, was complaining about a rules change -- you know, the change that allows Bloomberg to be on the Democratic debate stage in Nevada and Weaver said in part, quote, that's a definition of a rigged system.

Do you agree or do you think that that word is being thrown around way too much? The Sanders campaign should back off it as well because it's hurting faith in the system?

JAYAPAL: Well, I think the economy is rigged. I have thought that for a long time. When you have three people in the country, Erin, who have the same combined wealth as 160 million Americans, that's a rigged economy.

Now, I think the DNC, and I said this publicly, the DNC changed the rules in this situation, but how come the DNC didn't change the rules in order to get Cory Booker or Julian Castro to be on the stage, so that we would have a diversity of presidential candidates?

And I think these are the kinds of decisions that matter.

BURNETT: But do you think that is really based on race, that they rigged that on race? Is that what you're implying?

JAYAPAL: I'm not -- I'm saying that if rules are changed for a billionaire, then I don't know why they can't be changed to ensure that we have diversity that represents the breadth and depth of the Democratic Party. I don't know if that's rigged or not.

BURNETT: They said it was changed because they went off of polls which, of course, Tom Perez was very open about, right? That they went off of polls. So, they didn't look at the color of someone's skin, he looked at how they were doing in the polls.

Do you not buy that argument?

JAYAPAL: Well, I just think -- look, Tom Perez is a good friend. I think he's done a great job in many levels. But I think these are the kinds of things that reinforce distrust of the Democratic Party. We are trying to do everything we can to unify the Democratic Party.

But when there are things like this that happen, when there are, you know, big mistakes like using an app in Iowa that apparently was never tested for the kind of turnout that we were expecting, and then you have a mess that doesn't provide us with a winner six days before the next primary election, and these states understand -- I come from Washington state, we're not until the middle of March, but these states determine so much about the future of the election.

And so, I just think we have to be incredibly careful about making sure we are really doing everything possible to show that we appreciate our base, that we appreciate the diversity and that we are committed to making sure everyone is a part of our democracy.

BURNETT: Congresswoman Jayapal, I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you very much.

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