NBC "Meet the Press" - Transcript: North Korea
Interview
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
CHUCK TODD:
There you go. You've got to stop there, guys. All right. When I come back, it's Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
CHUCK TODD:
Welcome back. Is Senator Elizabeth Warren running for president? Here's what she says.
--BEGIN TAPE--
ELIZABETH WARREN:
No, I am not running for president. I am not running for president in 2020. I am running in 2018 for Senator from Massachusetts.
CHUCK TODD:
Many have noted that Warren's comments are in the present tense, as in, "I'm not technically running for president at this moment. But I may be running for something in the future." Warren has recently been raising her profile in a manner that has some asking not if she's running, but when she will announce. I talked to Senator Warren late yesterday and I began by asking her what she thinks of President Trump's decision to meet with Kim Jong-un.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
I want to see our president succeed, because if he succeeds America succeeds. The world is safer.But I am very worried that they're gonna to take advantage of him. And it starts right where you asked this question. And that is leaders of North Korea, for a very long time, the Kim family, has wanted to meet face-to-face with a U.S. president. That is a win for them. It legitimizes, in their view, their dictatorship and legitimizes their nuclear weapons program. Before they get that kind of prize, we should insist that they make some real changes--
CHUCK TODD:
But senator--
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
--verifiable changes to their programs.
CHUCK TODD:
You know, senator, the president would say, "Hey, we've tried it all sorts of traditional ways for 25 years. It hasn't worked. Whether it's having the proper country to country relationships." And he's going, "You know what? None of that's worked. What's wrong with trying to shake things up?"
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
Look, I'm in favor of shaking things up if you're sensible about it. But the idea of handing them the prize, that we're gonna ---you know, this North Korean dictator is going to be able to up in the photograph with an American president, that's the prize. That's the part they want.
CHUCK TODD:
Mark Warner. He's one of the original, original drafters of Dodd-Frank. But you and he are on opposite sides of this legislation that is trying to revoke some provisions in Dodd-Frank that have to do with providing some relief, what he says, for community banks and credit unions, smaller banks. Barney Frank says that this is not going to make a serious dent in Dodd-Frank. Why are you so vehemently opposed to these changes?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN: if this were just a bill about community banks, I'd be all on board. But I oppose this bill because it's not, and actually I think Barney opposes it as well. This bill says--
CHUCK TODD:
He does oppose it, but he also said he didn't think it was going to do much damage.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
Yes. But --well, but let's talk about that. It takes 25 of the largest 40 banks in America. Those 25 got more than $50 billion in taxpayer bailouts. Nobody went to jail. And it says, "Let's regulate them as if they were tiny little community banks that couldn't do any damage to the economy."Now, let's be clear. A quarter of a trillion dollar bank is not a community bank.
CHUCK TODD:
It's not unusual for Democrats to disagree, but some are taking issue with the tone you used to disagree with some Democrats. They were not happy when you sent a fundraising email. And, in Politico, anonymous attacks on you, I grant you, but here's one blind quote, "So you want Dems to win in all 50 states on the condition that senators from North Dakota and Montana agree with the senior Senator from Massachusetts on everything all the time. This is the Republicans' dream, which is to see Democrats work across the aisle, and Elizabeth Warren kill them for it." How do you respond?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
Look, I don't understand how anybody in the United States Senate votes for a bill that's going to increase the likelihood of taxpayer bailouts. This bill also makes it easier for banks that discriminate against people on home mortgages, charges more for African Americans or Latinos than they do for whites. Makes it easier to cheat people who buy mobile homes, if those are the kinds of homes they live in.I don't think that a bill like that is good for anybody in America. This isn't Democrats or Republicans or blue states or red states. I think that we do better as a country and we do better as a Congress when we're there to fight for working people and not for Wall Street banks.
CHUCK TODD:
If you win reelection this year are you going to pledge to serve a full six year term?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
So look, I am not running for president of the United States. I am running for the United States Senate. 2018. Massachusetts. Whoohoo. But let me actually make a -- underline a point on this one, and that is we can't just be a party that says, "Oh, we're paying attention about what happens every four years."And I know there's a lot of anxiety, particularly on the Democratic side, about how we are gonna deal with Donald Trump in 2020. But right now, this week, the United States Senate is talking about a bill that will roll back protections. We've got the Dreamers. We've got the tax bill that's gone through. We're still fighting to provide healthcare for everyone. We've now -- we should be having a gun debate on the floor of the United States Senate. It's not only about the election in 2018 where I think we do need to be laser focused. But it's about the fights every single day.
CHUCK TODD:
I take it as a no?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
I'm in this fight. That's where I'm focused.
CHUCK TODD:
I take it as a no you're not pledging to serve your full six year term if you win reelection?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
I already told you. I have no intention of running for the United States--
CHUCK TODD:
All right.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
For president.
CHUCK TODD:
I don't mean to pick on you about this, but you know how many people have said that--
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
Yes, you do.
CHUCK TODD:
You know how many people have said that over the years two years before, and then of course have run -- ended up running for president. You see why a lot of people aren't going to believe that answer.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
Look, what I'm telling you is that I am in these fights every day. For the people of Massachusetts, and for the people across this country. This government is working better and better and better for a thinner and thinner slice at the top. I am in these fights, and I am in this fight to retain my Senate seat in 2018. That's where I'm focused. That's where I'm going to stay focused. I'm not running for president.
CHUCK TODD:
So no pledge, though, on the six years?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
I am not running for president.
CHUCK TODD:
I know. Duly noted. Finally, I want to get you to respond to the Berkshire Eagle editorial. I know you've been asked about it before, but I'll go ahead and put it up for viewers. "Were you to test positive" -- They want you to take DNA test."Were you to test positive for Native American DNA it would permanently resolve the issue, while possibly shutting down President Trump. Should the test come up negative, it would be an opportunity for the senator to perform an act rarely seen among politicians, an admission of her error and a full throated apology to Native American tribes and anyone else offended by her spurious claim." What do you make of that idea?
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN:
So let me tell you the story of my family. My mother and daddy were born and raised in Oklahoma. My daddy first saw my mother when they were both teenagers. He fell in love with this tall, quiet girl who played the piano. Head over heels. But his family was bitterly opposed to their relationship because she was part Native American.They eventually eloped. They survived the Great Depression. The Dust Bowl. A lot of knocks. They raised my three brothers, all of whom headed off to the military, and me. And they fought. They loved each other. And most of all they hung together for 63 years. And that's the story that my brothers and I all learned from our mom and our dad, from our grandparents, from all of our aunts and uncles. It's a part of me, and nobody's going to take that part of me away.
CHUCK TODD:Senator Warren went on to claim that she's never benefited from her Native American heritage. You can see my entire interview with Senator Warren at MeetThePress.com. I encourage you to do so. It was quite interesting. Be back in a moment with that special election on Tuesday in Pennsylvania and why it's so important to President Trump.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source