CNN "Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees" - Transcript: Interview with Senator Bernie Sanders
Interview
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COOPER: Jim Acosta, appreciate it. More now on all of that and the very real need that so many Americans have going into what could be a grim holiday season. Joining us is Vermont Senator and former Democratic presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders. Senator Sanders, thanks for being with us.
The President dangling a 2024 run out there. You've said that the Republican Party has, quote, "virtually collapsed and become a cult." If President Trump has a hold on the party for the next four years, does -- is there any hope of bipartisanship for getting stuff done?
[20:10:28]
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Well, it's hard to say, Anderson, but what is unbelievably disappointing is that when you have a President who is working overtime, to sabotage and destroy American democracy that you don't have more than a handful of Republicans will have the guts to say, yes, Joe Biden is president. It was a fair election and let's go on.
The degree to which they are intimidated and frightened by this President is unbelievable and it makes me see the Republican Party today as kind of a cult of the individual, that individual being Donald Trump.
COOPER: I mean, the best case scenario for Democrats is to gain control of the Senate with a 50/50 split with Vice President Harris then casting the tie breaking vote. They would both need to win both Georgia runoffs, obviously for that to happen. If they don't pull off those victories what does it mean for Democrats in terms of actually getting things done during this administration? Obviously, Democrats and you have -- you know, Joe Biden have been talking about a lot of big ideas.
SANDERS: I think the American people right now want a President who understands that the times we are living in, Anderson, are probably more dangerous than in any time since when Franklin Delano Roosevelt took office in 1932.
So you've got the COVID pandemic, which has to be dealt. You've got an economic collapse, millions of people tonight are struggling to put food on the table. You've got millions and millions of people who have lost their healthcare. They are unemployed.
All the while we're seeing a massive increase in income and wealth inequality. And I think what the American people want is for Joe Biden to get out there and say, you know what, we've got a crisis, and I am going to act decisively. I'm going to use my Executive Orders when I can, and if not, I will demand the Congress raise the minimum wage to a living wage.
I'm going to demand that workers and women get equal pay for equal work, that we cover all people during this pandemic with healthcare, and that we lower the outrageously high cost of prescription drugs. We deal with the racism within our Criminal Justice System. We deal with immigration reform.
I believe that that is what the American people want, and I believe we will succeed. Obviously, it will be easier if we win those two seats in Georgia, much easier. But even not, I think that is an agenda that the working people of this country want who are today in worse shape economically than any time since the Great Depression.
COOPER: A lot of what you're saying, though, depends on you know, I remember talking to you in the past, and then I don't want to misquote you, but just -- I remember you're saying that, you know, to get some of these things accomplished requires not only an outpouring at the ballot box, but also an ongoing outpouring of people being involved.
SANDERS: That's right.
COOPER: And there's a lot of folks, and I'm wondering if you get this sense, who are sort of exhausted and, you know, they feel Joe Biden got elected, Democrats, and now, maybe you're taking their foot off the gas pedal?
SANDERS: Well, we can't afford to do that. And I know that there are incredible grassroots organizations. We're working in Georgia. We are working all over this country, bringing working people together to demand that we create an economy that works for all of us, and not just the few.
And I think that if you had a President Biden, and a Vice President Harris going to Kentucky and asking the workers there, whether they are satisfied with a $7.25 an hour minimum wage, you know what? I think Mitch McConnell may start to move. And I think that's true for Republican senators all over the country.
The truth is that today, people are hurting in a way that we have not hurt for generations. People want action and I think if the Biden administration is strong and forceful and comes out with a list of proposals and the American people are saying, yes, that's what we need. Of course, we should cut off healthcare for all, of course, we got to stop being ripped off by the drug companies who charge us 10 times more for insulin than they do in Canada. Let's go, Joe. Let's do it.
And we can rally the American people even if we don't control the Senate, I think we can get a hell of a lot done.
COOPER: Just in terms of the -- I want to ask you where you see stimulus negotiations heading right now? Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Schumer said the bipartisan proposal made yesterday should be used as a basis for talks. Do you think they'll actually be able to compromise -- or able to compromise with McConnell and get something done?
[20:15:05]
SANDERS: Well, I think in all due respect to Leader McConnell, what he brought -- his proposal is literally laughable. He doesn't have a nickel for unemployment supplements we provided in the past at least $600.00 a week. He doesn't have a penny. All over this country, people are worried about being evicted. There's no $1,200.00 check for those people.
So I think his proposal is literally laughable. I think the other proposal brought forth may be a start for discussions. But we've got to go a lot further than what that proposal now entails. For example, that proposal does not have the $1,200.00, I would do $2,000.00 a month stimulus check. But it's a start. But we've got to build on that.
COOPER: The last time you and I spoke, you said that the progressive movement deserves a seat at the table in the Biden administration. You've since said you'd accept the job of the Labor Secretary if President-elect Biden asked you to join the Cabinet. I want to play with Biden told the NBC last week when he was asked if he talked to you or Senator Elizabeth Warren about Cabinet positions. Let's listen.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've talked to them, look, as I said, we already have significant representation among progressives in our administration, but there's nothing really off the table. But one thing is really critical. Taking someone out of the Senate, taking someone out of the House, and particularly a person of consequence is really a difficult decision that would have to be made.
I have a very ambitious, very progressive agenda and it's going to take really strong leaders in the House and Senate to get it done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: What's your response to that?
SANDERS: Well, my response on that -- two responses. Number one, I think the progressive movement in America probably constitutes, you know, 35 to 40 percent of the Democratic Party. And I absolutely believe that those progressive, that movement deserves representation in the Biden Cabinet.
On a personal level, look, I am a very happy U.S. Senator, from the Great State of Vermont. If Democrats gain control of the Senate, I will be a chairman of a very important committee, so I'm content where I am. But I do believe that the progressive movement deserves strong representation, and as earned, a strong representation in the Biden Cabinet so that we can go forward and fight for the needs of our working class and the middle class today that are really hurting.
COOPER: Senator Sanders, appreciate your time.
SANDERS: Thank you, Anderson.
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