MSNBC "The Rachel Maddow Show - Transcript: "Amy Klobuchar interview. "
Interview
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MADDOW: They are saying "welcome home, Ilhan, welcome home, Ilhan". More than 100 people turned out at the arrivals terminal at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport today. Actually, they think they might be in baggage claim as the Congresswoman Ilhan Omar arrived back home to her district in Minnesota for the first time since the president led an almost all-white crowd in Greenville, North Carolina, last night as they chanted "send her back, send her back" as the president denounced Congresswoman Omar and called her un-American. The senior senator from the great state of Minnesota, Amy Klobuchar, is a presidential candidate who incidentally just in the past hour just learned where she will be standing in the next round of debates, which night she will be on. Today, Senator Klobuchar rebuked the president for his ongoing attacks on her home state congresswoman, saying that the president is putting Congresswoman Omar in a threatening situation, that he is putting her at risk with his continued attacks as this controversy shakes obviously not just Congresswoman Omar in Senator Klobuchar`s home state, but basically rattles everybody in terms of what this country is and what we are capable of under this president. Joining us now is 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Senator, it`s great to see you.
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Rachel. Great to be on and great seeing you not across from the debate stage.
MADDOW: Well, yes. That`s not a nice way to see anybody.
KLOBUCHAR: No.
MADDOW: I know.
KLOBUCHAR: This feels more normal.
MADDOW: I have a ton of stuff to ask you, but let me actually just ask you about the debate stuff first, because you just found out you`re be on night one again of the two nights. This was a random draw that was presented with much glitz and glamour --
KLOBUCHAR: Yes.
MADDOW: -- and drama on CNN.
KLOBUCHAR: Uh-huh.
MADDOW: So, night one is going to be --
KLOBUCHAR: Like an NFL draft.
MADDOW: -- Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O`Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Marianne Williamson, John Delaney, John Hickenlooper, Tim Ryan, Steve Bullock. Steve Bullock is the only new contender on the stage. Eric Swalwell dropped out basically and Steve Bullock got his spot. What do you make of your standing -- I mean, what do you make of your position on the stage?
KLOBUCHAR: Well, first of all, it spans the country where people are from.
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: I think that`s a good thing. Sometimes we have a lot of coastal people. I think it`s positive. And also, it`s just going to give me an opportunity to make my case --
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: -- of why I believe I`m the best one to lead this ticket. The fact that I have someone that believes they got to tell people the truth at a time when you see a president tearing this country apart, someone that believes we need to move ahead with making healthcare more affordable, bringing down the cost of pharmaceuticals and I`ve got a way to do it, I think a better way than some of the other people on the stage. So, I`m looking forward to sharing that. I think we`ll have some opportunities to go deep into some of those ideas. And then, finally, the fact that I won in these very red districts and that I can lead a ticket and I won in places that Donald Trump won by over 20 points, every time, every place, every race. And I think that`s important going into this election. And just to sort of tail off where you ended there with the Congresswoman Omar. Last night, I talked to a lot of people and this morning, staff members in the Senate, people who couldn`t sleep last night who were watching that -- what the president did. And for me, if people are looking for solace, to see those pictures of my airport --
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: -- my hometown airport and see the people just showing up spontaneously to greet her with that warmth, you know our state. We`ve got a big refugee population. She is one of them. And this is just something that Donald Trump has engendered. He divides people. He spread this hate and he does it for no other reason but to, one, invigorate his base and then, two, to divide so people don`t notice what else is going on. All of these things that he hasn`t gotten done, all the broken promises, the raids this week -- those raids were another example of that, right? Who, if you are really trying to deport the security risk which you would be from time to time, why would you alert them a week ahead of time?
MADDOW: Uh-huh.
KLOBUCHAR: Because he want to make news. That`s what he does.
MADDOW: And then when the agencies that you say are going to be conducting the raids admit that they haven`t actually committed these raids, then you just change the subject --
KLOBUCHAR: Right.
MADDOW: -- to try to get people talking about something else.
KLOBUCHAR: Right, yes.
MADDOW: On the subject of what the president did and the targeting of that congresswoman and other minority female congresswomen, I was struck that you said that he is putting Congresswoman Omar at risk, that he is creating a literally threatening situation for her. I wonder if you can elaborate on that a little bit, because I feel like people are horrified by what the president is doing, people horrified by the scene of that crowd chanting those things and the president presiding over, whether or not he was saying that he was happy about it today or not. But in terms of the harm is to the country of that, and what damage is done and how we fix it -- how do you look at that as a practical matter?
KLOBUCHAR: I think, first of all, she had serious threats against her before. And one of them -- one of the guys went to jail, actually. A guy in New York that made threats against her. So, when he says to a whole rally on national TV, with the echoing on the airways for 24 hours later, yes, people see that. So, that`s the first very serious thing about this. The second is that he is trying to open wounds and trying to make people hate each other. That`s what he`s doing that and we know it. And the final thing that she pointed out herself and I thought she put a great quote from the author Tony Morrison. The function, the very serious function of racism is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work.
MADDOW: Uh-huh.
KLOBUCHAR: And that`s the other thing he`s doing. So, to me, the solution is that we must always stand up against what he says, but then at some point, instead of going down the rabbit hole and I think this is why the congresswoman put this quote out there, you have to move on and keep doing your own work, because people have to see an optimistic economic agenda for this country, they want to see an alternative to who he is. They want to see an alternative from the chaos, but they also want to see a different agenda, that you`re going to have their backs and do something for them. I mean, he said he`d bring down the cost of prescription drugs. He said it would make your head spin how much he would bring them down. And over 2000,000 of them have gone up in double-digits. He hasn`t done his job. He said he`d make us safer, right, by getting out of the Iranian agreement. And now you have Iran doing things like enriching uranium right now as we speak. That doesn`t make us safer. He said that he was going to do an infrastructure, major infrastructure package, build things. He said that on election night. And he hasn`t done anything. So, I think one of the jobs of our candidate is going to be not only to call him on the horrible, horrific, racist things he says, to bring this country together, but it is also to create literally an alternative agenda, so people understand there is another path forward. He broke promises to you. If you voted for him, maybe you did it because you wanted change, because you felt left out of this economy. And there`s people all over the Midwest that felt like that. But it`s not coming true and here`s the way we can do it.
MADDOW: Senator Amy Klobuchar is our guest. Senator, stick with us. We`ll be right back after this.
KLOBUCHAR: OK.
MADDOW: Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MADDOW: Joining us again is Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from the great state of Minnesota, 2020 presidential candidate, who just learned she`s going to be on night one of the next debate, July 30th. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg, Beto O`Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Marianne Williamson, John Delaney, John Hickenlooper, Tim Ryan and Steve bullock.
KLOBUCHAR: Can you note that unlike last time, I`m not with all the giant people? Yes.
MADDOW: No. I think if we organize by size, it`s going to be much heterogeneous --
(CROSSTALK)
KLOBUCHAR: Yes. You know, I`m average height. I`m 5`4", but I was by far the shortest one on that stage. Someone said that means you are grounded.
MADDOW: Oh, that`s nice. It will be harder to knock over certainly. Let me ask -- I mean, it is -- it`s funny to read a list of 10 names and I`m sure it is difficult to prepare to be in a 10-person debate under any circumstance. I know it`s very difficult to prepare to be a moderator with 10-person debate. But let me must ask you now that that`s done, and I don`t have to do that anymore, what you just tell me like what sucked the most about the first debate? Like --
KLOBUCHAR: Well, if you want to answer every question and you want to get in there on climate change and tried to raise my hand, hey, and other things, and that`s frustrating because you only have like seven or eight minutes. The other thing is -- and I think the second night, you guys sort of let people go a little more on the time, you have that one last line and it will be cut off as you`re trying to say it. So, those things are pretty normal in debates. But I think the big thing is, you really want to make your case, especially for someone like me. I come from the middle of the country, I come from a state that`s not as big as some of the other ones. And this is really opportunity -- big opportunity for me to make that case.
MADDOW: Uh-huh.
KLOBUCHAR: And so, you just want to get in there on everything. And that`s why -- you know, by the fall and I`ll be making those debates, in the fall, there will be less people and that will make it easier to do that.
MADDOW: You are on track to make the debates with a more stringent criteria in the fall.
KLOBUCHAR: Yes, yes.
MADDOW: OK.
KLOBUCHAR: Uh-huh.
MADDOW: In terms of -- obviously, the CNN criteria is set, the MSNBC, NBC, Telemundo debate, we already did, it`s already done. Is there a way that you think they could be done better? Is there a --
KLOBUCHAR: Are you asking me this as a moderator?
MADDOW: Yes, yes. I mean, because I have done mine --
(CROSSTALK)
KLOBUCHAR: OK, so I`m glad we`re have opening statements because I think for the viewers, they tuned in and they thought -- for some of them -- they thought, who are these people?
MADDOW: Just standing there for a long time not answering questions.
KLOBUCHAR: What is happening? And so, I think that might have been nice for people to be able to introduce themselves. I think they are doing that.
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: And then I think maybe taking one person what they say and then asking another person to respond. You did some of that.
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: You guys did. But I think doing more of that, so there is less interrupting.
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: But yet, you want people to be able to go. It`s a very hard thing. It`s hard to be a moderator.
MADDOW: Well, thank you. Very nice of you --
(CROSSTALK)
KLOBUCHAR: But it`s also hard to be candidate.
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: And I -- I just think the stakes are so big --
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: -- and everyone gets that, Democrats, independents, moderate Republicans. I think they understand that the stakes couldn`t be huger. And if you didn`t think that, you know, watch what he did last night.
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: We can`t afford to have four more years of tearing this country apart. And so, I actually used the opportunity of that debate, and I hope more people do it. I figure -- it`s not just Democrats watching that. It is independents, moderate Republicans.
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: And I also figure I`m not running for chair of the National Democratic Committee.
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: I am running for president of the United States. So, I decided it was important to put my vision out there and my bold ideas, but also to show the contrast with Donald Trump.
MADDOW: Yes.
KLOBUCHAR: And I hope more people do that, because people need to hear that.
MADDOW: In your 100-day -- first 100-day speech --
KLOBUCHAR: Yes.
MADDOW: -- that you gave today, you said that -- you took a line from FDR`s first inaugural saying we need vigorous action, vigorous and direct action --
KLOBUCHAR: Yes. That`s what he said.
MADDOW: -- in the first 100 days. You feel like the 100 day agenda is more important than it usually would be after the Trump presidency in terms of redirecting the country?
KLOBUCHAR: Completely. And when you look back to then to 1933, obviously, we were in economic crisis. But FDR understood you needed marathons and you needed sprints. And the reason we need a sprint and we need not just plans, but deadlines and not just promises, we need real promises that people can deliver on, is that there is now a crisis of our Constitution. People feel what is happening to our democracy. Why are we divisive all the time? So, that`s why, in my first 100 days -- one, no mean tweets, OK?
(LAUGHTER)
KLOBUCHAR: Two, reach out to our allies. I think that`s very important and stand up to dictators. Three, move quickly on things -- there are so many things we can do right away. Get back into the international climate change agreement. Put those clean power rules out. You don`t have to go to Congress with that. The gas mileage standards. Closing the boyfriend loophole for gun safety and introducing gun safety legislation. You can actually apply for a waiver with the FDA and you can apply for a waiver to be able to bring in less expensive drugs from safe countries like Canada.
MADDOW: Uh-huh.
KLOBUCHAR: Imagine that pressure. And I`ve led that bill, but you can do it, a president can do it herself. So, imagine the pressure that will put on. So, there are just -- I went through over 100 things that you can do in the first 100 days that are, by the way, legal, unlike what this guy does. That are legal, and then at the same time, you go clearly to Congress and I have got the experience to get this done. I passed over 100 bills, as you know, where I am the lead Democrat. And you say, these are the three things we`re going to do right away. This is what we`re going to do by the end of the year. And I just think our
country is yearning for that kind of leadership. And after last night, I don`t think we can wait much longer.
MADDOW: Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota --
KLOBUCHAR: All right. Thank you.
MADDOW: -- great to see you.
KLOBUCHAR: Thank you. Thanks, Rachel.
MADDOW: Come back soon.
KLOBUCHAR: All right.
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