CNN "State of the Union with Jake Tapper" - Transcript: Interview with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

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[09:37:57]

TAPPER: Welcome back the STATE OF THE UNION. I'm Jake Tapper.

Nine days until Election Day, and more than 50 million Americans have already cast their votes.

My next guest is trying to make sure young people join that number. And she's taking a novel approach to getting it done.

Joining me now, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Congresswoman, thanks so much.

I don't know if you were listening to Meadows and Pelosi talking about the stimulus, the relief bill. You have warned of a -- quote -- "mass eviction crisis" in your New York district if a relief package isn't approved as soon as possible.

Do you think it's time for Democrats to declare victory and get this passed now, so your constituents can get the help they desperately need right now?

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Yes. Yes, I do think passing a stimulus is incredibly important. There are people that are in a lot of pain.

But, frankly, I think the thing that's important is that the Republican side really needs to get their act together.

When we hear one thing about an offer from the White House, you also hear Mitch McConnell saying that he doesn't have the votes for it internally. And so, while they're trying to present this united message of kind of having all their ducks in a row, the fact of the matter is, they can't even get their own senators to agree to a pack -- to their own package.

And so, really, a lot of this package is going to rely on Democratic votes. It's going to require delivering every Democratic vote in the Senate and peeling off Republican votes to agree to it.

So, we really need folks to make sure that we're getting state and local funding, that people can get a second stimulus check without giving up their protections in their workplace.

TAPPER: Let's turn to climate change, which is an issue of tremendous importance, especially to you.

You introduced a bill earlier this year that would ban all fracking nationwide within the next five years. To be completely candid, Vice President Biden's position on the issue of fracking has been confusing.

During the primary, he sounded supportive of a ban. On Saturday, he told voters in Pennsylvania -- quote -- "I'm not banning fracking, period."

It sounds like now he's on the other side of this issue from you. Does it bother you?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: You know, it does not bother me.

[09:40:00]

I believe -- and I have a very strong position on fracking. The science is very clear. The methane emissions from fracking are up to 64 times more powerful than CO2 emissions at trapping heat in the air. And just from a perspective of stopping climate change, there is a scientific consensus.

However, that is my view. Vice President Biden has made very clear that he does not agree with a fracking ban. And I consider that -- you know, it will be a privilege to lobby him...

(LAUGHTER)

OCASIO-CORTEZ: ... should we win the White House.

But we need to focus on winning the White House first. And I'm happy to make my case. But I also understand that he is in disagreement on that issue.

TAPPER: Do you worry that his opposition to a fracking ban is going to hurt young voter turnout?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, I believe that young people right now have a very disciplined, activist mind-set.

And they are not here with the intent of voting for their favorite person or voting for someone that they think is perfect as president. I think young people are actually quite disciplined and quite realistic and pragmatic in their vote, and they want to vote for who they are going to lobby.

They're -- right, now young people are so clear on their stances on many political issues, that they believe that they want to vote for a president that is at least going to be receptive to their advocacy, activism and protest, frankly.

And so there is no question that Joe Biden is a much better person in that position to be receptive and actually listen to the voices of advocates than Donald Trump, who is intensely focused on enriching himself and his friends.

TAPPER: So, last year, Biden told Democratic voters he would eliminate fossil fuels as president.

But listen to what he told reporters after Thursday night's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: We're not getting rid of fossil fuels. We're getting rid of the subsidies for fossil fuels. But we're not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: "We're not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long time."

You were a member of Biden's climate change task force. Is that good enough for you?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, when he says, we're eliminating subsidies, I think that that is, frankly, an important first step.

There's a lot of folks, with all of -- there's a lot of folks who like to tout themselves as free market capitalists, while still trying to make sure that they get as much government subsidy and propping up of the fossil fuel industry as possible.

And the fact of the matter is, is that, if you do believe in markets, solar and renewable energies are growing less and less expensive by the day, and, in many areas, they are starting to become less expensive than fossil fuels.

So, when you eliminate government subsidies, they -- it becomes more difficult for fossil fuels to compete in the market. And so I think, while -- again, while the vice president wants to make sure that he's not doing it by a government mandate or regulation, I do believe that we are moving towards that future.

Again, I believe that there is a way and that we should push that process along. But, again, the vice president and I's disagreements are, I believe, recorded. And that's quite all right.

TAPPER: At the first presidential debate, Biden said -- quote -- "I am the Democratic Party right now." He said the party's platform is his platform.

As you just noted, you disagree with him on a range of critical issues, not just fracking, but also health care. And you have made clear, including just a few minutes ago, that you intend to push him if he wins

Do you think that that's going to be a major part of your role under a potential Biden administration, trying to push him to the left?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, I don't want us to start counting our chickens before they hatch.

I believe that we need to be focused on winning the White House, period. The fact of the matter is, there are many critical states that are on the line, whether it's Florida, whether it's Georgia, Pennsylvania, et cetera. And we need to make sure that we win this White House.

Frankly, I think it would be a privilege and it would be a luxury for us to be talking about what we would lobby the next Democratic -- and how we will push the next Democratic administration. But, in terms of my role, I believe that that has been my role. And my

role is consistent, in making sure that we push the Democratic Party to have a larger vision for our future, to listen to the needs of the working class, of people who are living paycheck to paycheck, young people, people of color, because I believe that is the base of the Democratic Party, and that who -- that is who we are, that it is our job to make sure that we are serving all people in the United States, and particularly our base.

And, so, is my job to push the Democratic Party? Absolutely. And that has been my job since and that has been a part of my role since I have been elected.

TAPPER: It has.

I -- OK, understanding your reluctance to count chickens before they're hatched -- and you're right. It remains a competitive election, and, absolutely, President Trump could be reelected. There's no question about that.

[09:45:03]

So, that said, Politico is reporting that Senator Bernie Sanders, who you endorsed for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sanders has expressed an interest in potentially serving as Biden's labor secretary, if Biden wins the White House.

How crucial is it to the progressive movement that Biden's -- Biden offers an important position to Bernie Sanders in a Biden Cabinet, should that happen, should Biden win?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, what I think is extremely important, and what I think what a lot of people kind of misunderstand about the progressive movement is that it wasn't a slogan when Bernie ran on saying, not me, us.

And so it's not just about what -- where Bernie Sanders is next term or what role that Senator Sanders is playing. But it's really about who the Biden administration is choosing to lead agencies across the board.

And I am not familiar personally with any of Senator Sanders' requests or non-requests. I do not know personally about the veracity of this.

But I believe that it's critically important that the Biden administration appoint progressive leaders, whether it's in labor, whether it's in the Treasury, whether it's secretary of education, et cetera, because the fact of the matter is, is that this isn't just about the progressive movement. This is about making sure that we're not just going back to how things were and rewinding the tape before the Trump administration.

But this is about making sure how -- how are we going to not just make up for lost time, but leap into the future and actually ensure that we are making the investments and policy decisions that will create an advanced American society? And, frankly, conservative appointments will not get us there.

TAPPER: Do you think the Obama presidency was not a progressive presidency?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: No, I think President Obama did everything he could, with the limitations of a Republican Senate, and, frankly, a Republican-controlled Congress with much of his term.

But I think, that being said, there were, of course, progressive demands that were -- or -- and progressive wishes that weren't exactly met. But that wasn't solely due to President Obama. We desperately wanted even to settle for a public option during that time. And it, frankly, wasn't President Obama's fault that that didn't happen.

I do believe that there are certain areas, like foreign policy, where there was much to be desired. And I don't believe that, for example, in certain areas, like progressive policy, there wasn't necessarily -- it wasn't as progressive as perhaps many folks in this country would have liked.

But, if we have an opportunity, if we work hard enough to elect folks like Jaime Harrison, to make sure that we protect seats like Gary Peters', and to make sure that we unseat Republicans like Joni Ernst, and we have -- and we have the unique, frankly, once-in-a-generation opportunity to have the White House, the Senate and the House majorities Democratically-controlled, then I believe we have an obligation to the American people to show what a Democratic administration can actually accomplish...

TAPPER: Yes.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: ... accomplish, and that we can govern, and that we can truly have leaps in policy that people can feel in their everyday lives that makes voting Democratic worth -- not just worthwhile, but a memorable shift from just a flatline of this idea of bipartisanship, which often just becomes Republican manipulation.

TAPPER: You went on Twitch this week and played the video game "Among Us" with popular Internet personalities to encourage young people to vote.

I am obviously not a young voter. I had to ask my children what Twitch is and what "Among Us" is. They, of course, knew all about it.

That video has now more than five million views.

Where did the idea come from? And is it possible to kind of -- to translate this kind of unorthodox, flashy approach to outreach into actual turnout among young voters, who historically do not turn out as much as they could?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes.

Well, I'm -- the idea initially came from, frankly -- you know, I am often on social media, and I have been seeing a lot of people playing "Among Us." Twitch is a platform that I'm familiar with as a livestreaming platform.

And I decided that this was something that I wanted to do, not just for fun, but to actually try in the form of engagement. We do know that Twitch is a very popular engagement platform for other means. People often raise thousands, if not millions of dollars collectively for charities.

We decided to test this out as a voter mobilization strategy. And so, when we actually were able to put on the stream, over -- when you add up the collective streams, over a half-million people were watching live. As you noted, five million people have viewed since.

[09:50:03]

And it actually has been effective. We were directing voters to IWillVote.com, which helps young people not just register to vote, but develop a voter plan.

And the thing about voter plans is that we do know, scientifically and from behavioral studies, that people who make a plan to vote are statistically much more likely to vote than just registering to vote.

And what we found during the livestream is that folks from the DNC were tweeting and reporting that we were the highest driver to IWillVote.com ever during the cast of a livestream.

And we are seeing early returns in places like Florida, where youth turnout is -- in early voting is astronomically higher...

TAPPER: Yes.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: ... than it was than even in 2016.

And so we do know that young people are starting to become an extraordinarily powerful electorate that are issues-focused. Whether it is March for Our Lives on gun safety...

TAPPER: Right.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: ... or whether it is the Sunrise Movement mobilizing on climate change, they're having impacts on the election.

TAPPER: So...

OCASIO-CORTEZ: You could just see, in Senator Markey's reelection, the role that they played.

TAPPER: It is interesting watching you drag your party into the 21st century.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: Last question for you.

If Speaker Pelosi runs again, as she just indicated she will if the Democrats keep the House, will you support her? ' OCASIO-CORTEZ: Well, again, I want to make sure that we win the House. I do believe that we will.

But it's critically important that we are -- that we are supporting Democrats in tight swing races, making sure that not only all of them come back, but that we grow our majority.

I believe that we have to see those races as they come, see what candidates are there. I am committed to making sure that we have the most progressive candidate there.

But if Speaker Pelosi is that most progressive candidate, then I will be supporting her.

TAPPER: OK. Interesting.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, congresswoman from New York, thank you so much for your time today. Appreciate it.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Thank you.

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