CNN "Newsroom" - Transcript Interview with Amy Klobuchar

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Let's make sure we get the funding we need for the testing. He includes no funding for testing in his proposal. There was $75 billion that would have put our country back on track.

I just read today, New Zealand is on its hundredth day without coronavirus.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: That's true.

KLOBUCHAR: Countries all over the world are doing a better job. Get a testing regime in place that works, do something for our schools and our parents that are trying to educate their kids from home and figuring out what to do --

HARLOW: So --

KLOBUCHAR: -- make sure we have funding to make our elections safe. None of this is in his bogus --

HARLOW: Let's --

KLOBUCHAR: -- executive orders.

HARLOW: -- I promise I'm going to talk about parents in a moment, I care deeply about this, being --

KLOBUCHAR: I know you do.

HARLOW: -- one of them. But just to put a (INAUDIBLE) on that, you know, you are known, Senator, for reaching across the aisle, for working with the other side on things and getting things done. So if you were Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi, if you were in their shoes right now, where would you give, right?

Because Dana Bash asked Nancy Pelosi yesterday, you know, will you go down from $600, for example, weekly unemployment extension? And she didn't get a direct answer from the speaker. Would you propose that Democrats should do that, come down a bit off the 600 to get something done?

KLOBUCHAR: You know, the reason she didn't answer, she's not going to start negotiating on CNN, as much as you guys provide so much valuable news coverage every day -- HARLOW: Thank you.

KLOBUCHAR: -- that's not the place to negotiate.

HARLOW: But what would you do -- you know what I'm saying, right?

KLOBUCHAR: So -- but let me say this -- she already --

HARLOW: Should they come down to get something done?

KLOBUCHAR: OK, Poppy, look at what's happened here though. Three -- well, she's not negotiating the details. $3.6 trillion down to $2 trillion. Her House, including some pretty moderate and conservative Democrats, passed $3.6 trillion because they knew what their constituents needed in rural areas and suburban areas. And so now they're down to $2, and the White House still wouldn't budge and instead comes out with these bogus political gimmicks.

And so that's why I truly believe, in the end, that they just need to go back to the negotiating table. We cannot let the bottom fall out of this economy. It's already been tough enough for so many people.

HARLOW: Let's talk about parents, OK?

KLOBUCHAR: Parents (ph).

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Because (ph) you -- I'm sure you saw the reporting out of Goldman Sachs last week. We knew it, like, parents are feeling this. But they put numbers to it, and what Goldman showed is that it's single parents, parents with young children and parents who can't work from home that are the most at-risk groups of completely losing their jobs. Other reporting, 7 million people per week since May have not been working because of a lack of child care.

What should the American people expect Congress -- you guys -- are going to do about this? Because I fear that this is going to be devastating, especially for working moms. Of course it is.

KLOBUCHAR: Yes, of course it is. We all know people who are struggling, people who I work with every day, the ones that have kids at home, it's so hard because they're trying -- the ones that have jobs are trying to do their work at the same time with kids.

So what do they need? Well, they need for us to get a testing regime in place so we can start having our economy function again, so that if they had child care before, they can use it now.

Secondly, we need to help parents to pay for child care for the long term, for what I call the day after tomorrow. And some people already bringing their kids to child care. But when more will, we need to make it available and make it affordable. And that's actually --

HARLOW: What about vouchers?

KLOBUCHAR: -- part of Joe Biden's plan, as one of his major priorities --

HARLOW: What --

KLOBUCHAR: -- is to help on child care.

And the last thing is for people who are unemployed, they need a bill to pass.

Go ahead, Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes, no, I just keep thinking, how can we be creative and very innovative and take a lot of out-of-work people and perhaps get them to work, caring for children, maybe paid for or subsidized by the government? It's not my job --

KLOBUCHAR: Exactly.

HARLOW: -- to figure out, it's your guys' job to figure that out. But I hope Congress --

KLOBUCHAR: No, no, no --

HARLOW: -- does something. I just have --

KLOBUCHAR: -- there's actually -- that is a really -- there's a bipartisan proposal on AmeriCorps, expanding that --

HARLOW: OK.

KLOBUCHAR: -- that would be great. And the second thing is, I got a bill to take out-of-work people to have them employed by nonprofits that could also help in that area. Those are two great ideas --

HARLOW: Let's --

KLOBUCHAR: -- but if they're not at the negotiating table, that's hard to do.

HARLOW: -- let's hope -- let's hope something happens.

KLOBUCHAR: Yes.

HARLOW: Let me ask you about the vice president. He has a big decision to make this week, and that is on who his running mate will be. And I ask you because you spoke out when you took yourself out of the running for that, you spoke out and you said that you hope he chooses a woman of color. This was -- this was months ago.

We've learned over the weekend that in the past week, he did meet with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. What do you think, Senator, an all-white ticket would say about the Democratic Party right now?

KLOBUCHAR: You know, Poppy, Joe Biden is going to pick the best person for that job, and there are so many incredibly qualified women, including the governor of Michigan. They are all qualified. What I was trying to capture here was that this is a historic moment. It's a historic moment because of what's been going on in our country,

not just with George Floyd out of my state, but also with how we've seen so many African-Americans, immigrant workers that have been hit so hard by this pandemic in outrageous numbers. And so that's why I think this is a historic moment, to look back, what's happened in our country, where we got now and seize that moment.

[10:35:12]

But I can tell you, I think whoever he picks with the group he's got, I will be highly supportive. And he knows what it takes to be a good vice president. And a lot of it is trust, a lot of it is someone who's going to bring that same compassion and competence that he has. And I'm just excited to see who he picks.

HARLOW: Yes. I just -- I think everyone is, and I truly don't -- no one knows. I just wonder if you still feel the same way because you said this is a moment to put a woman of color on the ticket.

KLOBUCHAR: I do, but in the same breath I said --

HARLOW: Yes.

KLOBUCHAR: -- no matter who he picks, I will be supportive because he will pick the right person. And they're -- every single one of those women that he is considering right now are very good and would do an excellent job.

HARLOW: Well, it's going to be a woman. We know that. Senator --

(LAUGHTER)

KLOBUCHAR: We do know that.

HARLOW: -- Klobuchar, we appreciate you being on. Thanks for the time.

KLOBUCHAR: Thank you, it was great to be on, Poppy.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source