CNN "State of the Union with Jake Tapper" - Transcript Interview with Amy Klobuchar
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Joining me now to discuss, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senator Klobuchar, thank you so much for joining us on this morning.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Thanks, Jake.
TAPPER: You said that Justice Ginsburg -- quote -- "showed future women lawyers like me that anything and everything was possible" -- unquote.
What impact did Ginsburg have on your career?
KLOBUCHAR: She was an icon, a hero.
And you always stand on the shoulders -- no matter how small hers were, her footprint was so huge, because you saw a woman who literally was told, oh, you shouldn't go to law school. And then she goes and she graduates number one in her class.
Oh, when these equal rights cases that she created these -- the principles and the ideas and the theories of the case, they say, well, maybe a man should argue that before the Supreme Court. She says: No, I'm going to do it.
She goes on and creates landmark law when it comes to making sure women can go to work and be protected. Then she gets on the Supreme Court herself, the second woman in the country that is appointed to the Supreme Court. And, of course, from there, it's history. She becomes an international icon.
And I think, for a lot of women, that's amazing too that, in your 80s, you can have the name Notorious RBG...
(LAUGHTER)
KLOBUCHAR: ... and your own hashtag, to the point where my daughter, once we were at an event, and there was a picture of the three of us taken together.
My daughter was in college, and she comes up to me, she goes: "Mom, it's so cool to meet the Notorious RBG."
(LAUGHTER)
KLOBUCHAR: "And I hope you don't mind. I'm putting this on my Facebook page, but I'm going to cut you out."
(LAUGHTER)
KLOBUCHAR: And I think that is literally what she became.
TAPPER: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: And so, as I heard President Clinton talk about how she had exceeded all expectations, I think we're at a moment in time where our democracy and the people voting and where we are right now, we have to exceed expectations.
TAPPER: So...
KLOBUCHAR: And that's why this is so emotional for so many people.
TAPPER: Yes.
And I hate to turn to the ugly business of politics, but it's right in front of us. And you sit on the Senate Judiciary...
KLOBUCHAR: It's not always ugly.
(LAUGHTER)
KLOBUCHAR: Well, yes.
TAPPER: Well, I'm anticipating.
And you sit on the Judiciary Committee, which will be tasked with considering President Trump's nominee. Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that -- quote -- "President Trump's nominee will receive a vote."
Is it fair to say that there really is nothing that Democrats can do to stop this?
KLOBUCHAR: First of all, I put it on my Republican colleagues, because they know what's at stake. People are literally voting in my state right now, this weekend. And
when you look at history, as President Clinton just described, the only one this close was when Abraham Lincoln was president. And he made the wise decision to allow the election to occur, and then decide who would nominate and who he would nominate. That happened.
And so, when you look at the situation now, we're voting right now. Health care is on the line. Jake, there is going to be an oral argument on November 10 on the Affordable Care Act, literally the decision for hundreds of millions of people about whether or not they will be kicked off their health care if they have a preexisting condition.
Environmental rules, as people are -- can't even breathe some of the air out in the West Coast, those are on the line. The right to organize, that is on the line.
So, it is coinciding with an election. So that's why, whatever Mitch McConnell does right now, my Republican colleagues are -- understand that the voters are voting.
And a number of them have already said that the next president, whoever wins, should be able to pick the justice. The people pick the president. The president picks the justice.
That was the McConnell rule, and that is the precedent they set.
TAPPER: But you don't have a plan, other than appealing to the consciences of Republican senators -- or not just a plan -- you don't have the ability to stop it, other than -- I have heard floated the idea that some activists want Democratic senators to block the government funding bill.
Is that something that you would do?
[09:20:00]
KLOBUCHAR: Right now -- first of all, Ruth Bader Ginsburg just died.
Secondly, while Mitch McConnell has said what he has said, these people aren't beholden to him. They're beholden to their own integrity, to their own moral compasses. They're going to have to make their decisions.
Yes, there's all kinds of things that we could look at for strategies, reforms in the future. All of that, yes, all of that, I have always said, should be considered.
But, right now, we have a number of Republican senators that are going to have to look inside and make a decision for themselves, for their states -- they're independently elected -- about how they are going to handle this.
I read her last words. Justice Ginsburg: "My most fervent wish is that I will not be replaced until a new president is installed."
TAPPER: Yes.
So, I want to ask you about what you said in 2016 after Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court didn't even get a hearing.
You said -- quote -- "The Constitution is clear. The Senate must consider the president's nominee and then choose whether to vote yes or no. We must do our job, hold hearings and vote."
Now, I understand that there is a big difference between a seat opening in February and a seat opening up 44 days before the presidential election.
But you weren't talking about timelines there. You were talking about the constitution. If the Constitution was clear then, is it still clear now?
KLOBUCHAR: We are in modern history, where the -- literally, just in the last time a justice was considered after someone died unexpectedly, Justice Scalia, a new rule was set by our colleagues.
And, as President Clinton said, you cannot have one set of rules for a Democratic president and another for the Republican. They set this precedent. And they can't mess around and use raw political power right in the middle of an election.
And I would say that is a major difference, because people are voting right now. And people understand what's going on, that they care about things like women's rights, that they care about things like being able to keep their health care.
And so, when the -- my Republican colleagues -- and some of them have already come out and said the right thing, because they understand what's at stake here, that you -- they don't want to join in with the president, who is lying and lying and lying, in terms of how he's going to handle a Supreme Court nomination.
Literally, our democracy is at stake. And I think Michelle Obama said it best when she said, your life depends on it, so you better vote.
TAPPER: Well, speaking of that, you talked about how the Supreme Court is going to hold arguments on Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, one week after Election Day, November 10.
Even if Chief Justice Roberts votes to uphold Obamacare, it would be a 4-4 tie. And that would mean that the lower court ruling is in place, which would strike down the entire law as unconstitutional.
So, if there is a Trump justice in there, or if there isn't a Trump justice in there, doesn't it seem as though Obamacare is essentially dead?
KLOBUCHAR: No.
First of all, that case has been discredited and strongly criticized by people all over the spectrum as that case comes to the Supreme Court. Secondly, the justices could do many different things. And I'm not
going to get into -- I could take up your entire show with this in terms of how they handle the entire Affordable Care Act.
So, I don't concede anything.
But what I do know is, the Affordable Care Act has helped Americans. So many of them have health care, when they didn't before. Every single American now has the protection that, if you have diabetes, or if you have Alzheimer's, that you are not going to be kicked off of your health insurance. That is a big deal. That is what is at stake.
And I think what you translate here -- and I think about the fact that this is Ruth Bader Ginsburg's seat, Jake. This is her position. She never gave up, right?
So, when you ask me about rules in the future and all these things we can look at for reform that are very worthy to look at, I just look at the fact that she would not concede right now. She didn't concede when everyone told her, oh, you can't change the law, women can't be protected, oh, a man should argue that case.
She just kept going. And I think that's what you feel the spirit of all those people showing up at the Supreme Court, the outpouring of support for her, all the young people that are voting by mail, all the young people that are willing to show up and vote like they have never before voted, and all the people that are afraid of four more years with this president, when they are less safe than they were before he got into office.
No, I think what we have going on in this country right now, with people voting in the middle of a pandemic, with 200,000 people dead, I think it is like a literal, virtual, to fit our times, revolution going on. People have had it with this guy.
[09:25:00]
And that's why Joe Biden...
TAPPER: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: ... is leading in states that no one ever thought that he could win.
TAPPER: OK.
KLOBUCHAR: But he's going to do it.
TAPPER: Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you so much for your time today.
KLOBUCHAR: Thanks, Jake.
TAPPER: We appreciate it.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source